One Wish
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: It's the sixth Holy Grail War and Daniel has no intention of joining. At least, until a certain sword-wielding Servant saves his life. With no choice but to fight, he accepts inevitability. But when the most powerful Servant of each class is summoned, can he actually hope to win?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any of the original Fate series characters. Also, haven't finished Stay Night yet. For the sake of my story, the grail was never completed.

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Accident

Daniel sighed as he stretched, watching the tiny ball of wind spin over his hand. He wasn't a great mage. He really only knew a couple of spells. But because he only knew a few, his family had made sure they were worth it. A ball of wind that packed all the force of a downburst into the size of a softball, a compressed blade of wind so long as he was holding an empty hilt, compressed barriers like bullets fired from his finger tips by miming a gun, telepathy, and barriers. He was actually rather skilled with barriers, according to his father. They were naturally strong, and he could augment them with his wind magic either to hide them or to strengthen them, though not by much if it was bigger than a beach ball. He was also creative enough to employ them in a variety of manners, some of which his father described as "an extension of his body."

However, even with his natural skill with barriers, and his naturally powerful wind magic attacks, he had yet to win a single practice duel. He and his friends who were mages would fight often, but he lost every time. For all of his skill with his own spells, they simply knew more, and several ways to counter them, along with his own naturally slow reaction time. By the time his brain registered the need to react, the spell was usually hitting him already. He didn't like fighting. And he hated the thought of killing. He had seen enough. And he was only eighteen.

"Hey Daniel, you going to try and summon a Servant?" one of his less welcome friends, Cameron, asked.

"Why would I do that?" Daniel asked. "You know I hate fighting. Why would I possibly want to voluntarily order one of the greatest heroes in history to waste their mana trying to keep me alive all in the hopes of getting some hunk of sacrilegious junk that stole the name of the Holy Grail?"

"Uh, because it could grant your one impossible dream," Cameron said.

Daniel grit his teeth, staring at the ground.

"Oh don't be like that," Cameron snorted, wincing sympathetically. "I'm sure you'll get a girlfriend eventually."

"Fuck you Cameron," Daniel chuckled weakly. "For your sake I pray you're finally smart enough to just shut your mouth and stop sassing yours. Otherwise you may end up being beaten by a girl yet again."

Cameron huffed before both began to laugh. Finally, Daniel stared up at the sky and sighed.

"I really can't believe some mage was so full of himself that he created a supposedly omnipotent wish granting device and named it the Holy Grail," Daniel said. "Disgusting pieces of shit."

"Dude, you do remember that you're a mage, right?" Cameron asked.

"Hardly," Daniel snorted. "I know, what, four spells? Besides, being a mage doesn't mean I can't be Christian, does it?"

"I suppose not," Cameron said. "You know, I think it's kind of funny how none of the Masters are ever chosen from our hemisphere. Britain's actually the furthest it's gotten. Probably for the best. Americans tend to be more, shoot first, torture for answers if they miraculously survive."

"That's what happens when your own government decides it wants to train terrorist groups to fight terrorist groups," Daniel said.

"Oh not this shit again," Cameron groaned. "Listen, I've gotta get home before Shanna decides to kill me. I'll see you around Daniel."

"Yeah, see you."

Cameron left and Daniel climbed into his beat up old truck, rumbling down the road back to his house, shutting the engine off with a fair bit of rattling. Probably more than there should have been, even for his truck. He walked into the house, heading into the basement and picking up his hilt and channeling mana into it, forming his wind blade. He liked that spell almost as much as his barriers. He could create a barrier blade as well, but the wind blade was sharper and easier to swing. It was also harder to see. He stared at the sword. The hilt was made of wood with a thick, round guard at the top, a small semi-sphere pommel, and a blade made entirely of wind extending from the opening a proper blade should occupy. It had the faintest of a blue glow from his mana, where as his barriers tended to shine with a cobalt light.

He slashed the sword once before taking his usual stance, hilt in his right hand, body sideways to where his opponent would be, hilt held over his right shoulder, the blade extended toward his invisible opponent. He began to go through the motions of his usual training, fencing with his imaginary foe for several minutes before letting the blade fade.

"So easy to kill imaginary foes," Daniel sighed, putting his hilt back on the small end table he used to hold his hilts.

He had several, but the wooden one was the lightest, so it was the one he preferred. Besides the end table, the room had several targets on one wall for target practice with his bullet spell. That was it.

Daniel walked up the stairs to the main floor and headed to the kitchen, getting some left over pizza from the refrigerator and taking out a slice, taking a bite as he turned on the TV. On the news, it was displaying a news story about several children disappearing a couple of towns over. He grimaced.

"Fucking sadist mages," he grumbled turning the channel. "What kind of sick fuck kidnaps children?"

He switched the channel again and again, eyes not really seeing any of it. Finally, he shut it off, heading to bed. As soon as the sun peeked through his window, he rolled out of bed, pulling on some sweat pants and a sweat shirt and left the house with his wooden hilt tucked into the back of his waistband. He took off at a fast jog down the road to the beach, then turned it into a sprint across the beach for a few hundred meters before turning back toward the streets, slowing to a stop as he reached a sewer access grate that was askew, dried blood beside the hole.

"This is a terrible idea," he mumbled, quietly dropping into the hole and walking down the tunnel, drawing his hilt.

He finally reached a large open area with support pillars like a parking garage but with a few inches of sewer water on the ground. He walked into the room, sensing himself passing through a barrier and sighing.

"Well that was certainly faster than I expected," a voice said as a man stepped around a pillar a little ways in front of him, a sadistic grin plastered across his dark-skinned face. "I was expecting the ceremony to be over when you arrived."

"What ceremony?" Daniel snarled.

"Simple," the man grinned gesturing behind Daniel.

Daniel turned just as torches blazed to life, illuminating dozens of mangled, mutilated, and barely recognizable corpses, all of them children. Daniel's entire body felt numb, even as it shook with rage.

"Uh oh, I think I struck a nerve!" the man sneered as a wind blade burst into life from Daniel's hilt, Daniel shooting forward, slashing at the man.

The man drew a folding knife, ducking under the slash before beginning to easily deflect the blows with his knife.

"Not bad," the man grinned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd actually say you were good enough to be a Master in the war."

Suddenly, three glowing red marks appeared on the back of his right hand as three triangles, formed into a larger one with a shorter inverted one in the middle of the rest. Then, two more people suddenly materialized on either side of the man. One, helped him by slamming a massive hammer into Daniel's chest, throwing him aside. The man grinned, standing as the second lunged, the pointed shaft of a golden khakkhara streaking toward his heart. Then, there was a flash of sparks and the ring of metal as someone appeared over Damian protectively. Damian stared up at the woman that had saved him. She wore a blue bell dress with a white blouse underneath, a silver cuirass, silver gauntlets, greaves, and had blonde hair in a braid and wrapped in a circle on the back of her head. In her hands was a sword made entirely of nearly-invisible wind.

"Are you alright Master?" she asked.

"Where...Where did you come from?" Daniel asked.

"You summoned me," she said, confused.

Suddenly, the man with the hammer appeared in front of her, hammer over his head. She reacted instantly, darting forward and slashing him across the torso. He staggered backward, blood splattering across the ground before the man roared in rage, darkness suddenly shooting off of him. The black cloak it had been wearing exploded off of its body, revealing a fur skirt, white pants under them, and a bare, scarred, heavily muscled torso with a pair of thin metal bangles just below his shoulder muscles.

"Berserker," the woman said, Daniel staring at her.

Berserker? As in the Servant? He looked back at the man as it shot forward, swinging its massive hammer downward at the woman with one hand, the woman leaping out of the way, the hammer shattering the ground. Daniel scrambled to his feet, grabbing his hilt and reforming his sword just as the man with the khakharra tossed his own cloak off, revealing that it was, in fact, not a man. The woman beneath the cloak had raven hair reaching down her back, a warm smile that contrasted heavily with the evil that practically shone from her poison green eyes, a beautiful face, a dark green dress cut very low on her rather large breasts, black heels, and long black fingernails ending in sharp points. Almost the exact moment the cloak left her body, the woman that had saved Daniel landed beside him, sword held ready and aimed at the woman.

"Morgana," the woman snarled.

"Well well," the other woman grinned. "I take it you've claimed the roll of Saber then? That's good. And you seemed to have lucked out. Your Master seems to be surprisingly useful, for a human."

"What are you two talking about?" Daniel asked. "What's going on? Who are you all?"

"You're such a simpleton," the man Daniel had attacked, who had been leaning against a pillar since the other two had appeared, smirked. "Allow me to clarify. The woman in the green dress is my Servant in the Holy Grail War, Caster. The one with the hammer, is a bit of a special case. A Servant of my Servant. He's a Berserker class."

"Wait, what?" Daniel asked. "Your Servant has a Servant?"

"By the time the war starts for real, we'll have an army of them," the man said. "Anyway, as you have a Servant of your own, now, I'm not allowed to kill you, so you may leave."

Daniel stared at him before nodding, turning and walking away from them, the woman that had saved him, Caster, apparently, following, never letting her guard down. Finally, they left the sewer and Daniel led her back to his house, opening the door and stepping out of the way. As she walked past him he sighed. He had a headache from trying to figure out what exactly had happened, and he doubted the headache would be going away soon.

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters. I've officially finished Unlimited Blade Works and started Apocrypha. I like the idea of a war between two armies of masters and servants, but I'm not sure I like the fact that apocrypha says that Unlimited Blade Works and Zero basically didn't happen. Anyway, I'll be adapting the story a little to make up for what happened in Unlimited Blade Works.

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Explanation

Daniel sighed as he sat down, the woman seated with her legs folded beneath her, watching him curiously.

"Okay, can you start at the beginning please?" Daniel asked.

"Alright," Saber nodded. "You know of the Holy Grail War?"

"Yes," Daniel said. "Seven mages are chosen by a false Holy Grail and are given Servants to fight against each other for possession of the grail."

"Well, whether it's true or false, you're correct about the rest," Saber said. "The Grail selects the seven masters it feels are the most worthy."

"Then how did I get chosen?" Daniel snorted. "I've never even won a duel. I suck."

"It's not a matter of power," Saber said. "In the last Holy Grail War, I was the Servant of a mage with only one ability and no experience of any kind. He turned out to be among the most powerful Masters I could ever have hoped to have. Anyway, when a Master is chosen, three red markings called Command Seals appear on their hand. These seals allow them to give them complete control over their servant for one command. However, each time a seal is used, the seal will fade. Once all three are used, the Servant will be freed from their Master's control, and they are no longer a part of the war. Once all of the other Servants are defeated, the Holy Grail will grant the winner a single wish."

"You said you've fought in the war before?" Daniel asked.

"That's right," Saber nodded. "This will actually be my third consecutive war."

"What happened before?" Daniel asked.

'The first time, my Master used two of his Command Seals to force me to destroy the grail," Saber said. "As a result, the grail destroyed Fuyuki, killing thousands of people. My Master in the second war was a surviver of that event, and the adoptive son of my first Master. It seemed fate wanted me to be associated with that family. Anyway, the second time, the Holy Grail was never finished."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"There was a person in the war that...shouldn't have been," Saber said. "His name was Gilgamesh. He was powerful, horrifyingly so, but when the grail destroyed Fuyuki, it somehow granted Gilgamesh the ability to sustain his own form. So when he forged a pact with a defeated Master in the last war, they worked together to slaughter almost all of the remaining Servants. The grail responded by ending the war early."

"So, what happens to a Servant when they get beaten?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know," Saber said. "I've never really been beaten in the Holy Grail War. But I'm going to continue fighting until I win. I _will_ see my wish fulfilled."

"Wish?" Daniel blinked. "You have a wish?"

"I do," she nodded. "I wish to save my home."

"I see," Daniel nodded, staring at the floor.

"Do you not also have a wish?"

"I...know what I want," Daniel said. "But I would never wish for it using a heretical creation of some mage. If God wanted us to be able to return the dead to life before the Rapture, he would have created a way himself. He wouldn't have had to have some mage create one."

"I see," she nodded. "I'm also Christian. Normally I'd agree, but...I must save Britain."

"Britain?" Daniel blinked. "You know, they're actually not in danger anymore. They've had it rough a few times throughout history, but they've always made it through."

"I see," she said. "Still. I have to undo the mistakes I made. I allowed a lot of people to be hurt, and allowed them to go down the wrong path. I have to save them."

Daniel nodded, sighing. "I see. Okay. I'll help you."

"You will?" she asked, Daniel nodding. "Thank you. I am indebted to you. I swear to you, for as long as we fight in this war, I shall not allow you to be harmed."

"There's no need for that," Daniel smiled. "I'm leaving all combat decisions to your discretion. You can fight as you see fit, and you won't have to worry about me using my command seals."

Her eyes widened and she smiled, nodding. "I will also train you in swordplay. Doing so should help your reaction time."

"So you noticed, huh?" Daniel smiled sheepishly.

"It was hard to miss," she smiled. "I don't know if I ever asked your name."

"Daniel," he said. "Daniel Johnson."

"It's an honor to meet you," she bowed. "Now, shall we begin?"

He nodded and she stood, a pair of wooden swords appearing in her hands, one of them held out for him. He accepted it and readied himself, Saber doing the same. Then, he lunged, slashing at her. She knocked the sword aside, spinning and slashing at him from the other side. He swung his sword around, blocking it only for her to pull her sword away from his instantly, swinging it around and slamming it into his back, making him stagger away. He turned, gritting his teeth before charging again, Saber easily ducking under the slash and slamming her blade into his gut, dropping him to the ground.

"Focus," she said, waiting as he stood, backing away before readying himself again.

She lunged forward, slashing several times, Daniel struggling to do anything. The impacts were light, when she didn't swing too short. After what he had seen a moment ago, it was obvious that her objective wasn't to hit him, but even so, he fended her off as best he could, ducking out of the way of slashes when necessary. Finally, she stopped, stepping back as Daniel watched her, breathing a lot harder than she was.

"I see," she nodded.

"What?" he asked.

"Your reaction time isn't entirely because of lack of training," she said. "Your depth perception is poor."

"Yeah, I've had problems with it for my entirely life," Daniel said, reaching up and running a hand through his short brown hair, brushing the top of it to the right. "My doctors said it's a genetic thing."

"I see. You'll need glasses then."

"Dammit. I really wanted to avoid them."

"You're going to be fine," she smiled. "If all else fails, you can get contacts."

He sighed and nodded, readying himself again as she did the same. Then, she returned to beating him around the room.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

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New Student

"So, how long until the actual war starts?" Daniel asked as he and Saber walked toward his school, where Saber would be enrolling as a new student.

"It depends on how long it takes for the seventh servant to be chosen," Saber said. "I'm the fourth. The war starts regardless of how many servants there are in three weeks. Until then, we'll need to find a way to get to Fuyuki. At the same time, we also need to be able to keep you from being arrested for truancy."

"That would be appreciated. Now, next question, where did you get those clothes from?"

Saber was now dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, a blue, form-fitting blouse with a low-cut collar, and a pair of white tennis shoes. All of which Daniel was quite certain had most definitely _not_ been at his house.

"I bought them," Saber said. "Do you not like them?"

"It's not that," Daniel said, sighing as he stopped at a crosswalk, letting the cars pass. "It's just, you were at my house all night, and then we walked straight here. And in a town of only a thousand people, it's easy for me to know that there's no clothing stores in town. You'd have to drive down the interstate for almost twenty minutes to find a Walmart."

They continued down the side of the road.

"I went to the store while you were sleeping," Saber said. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Daniel smiled. "It looks good on you. And you can't exactly go to school around here in a dress. Much less in medieval armor."

Saber nodded as the school came into view. It was small, like the town it was in. It held Pre-K school through twelfth grade all in one building, with room to spare. But it was a decently-sized school for the area. The entire half a state Daniel lived in was lucky if a town had ten thousand people in it.

"Anyway, you'll need a cover name, any suggestions?" Daniel asked. "Calling you Saber would probably be weird."

"I'll let you decide," Saber said.

Daniel nodded and they continued to the school in silence, heading to the office first where Daniel got her enrolled under the name Angel Saber. Saber gave him a very odd look as he wrote the name down and he simply shrugged before leading her out of the office and toward class, since they had decided to just put her in his classes. Normally it would have been more of a hassle, but the secretary was his cousin, so he got plenty of special treatment.

"Well hello Beautiful," a voice said from behind them as they reached Saber's new locker.

Daniel sighed and turned to the owner of the voice, his friend Parker, who considered himself the school's greatest ladies man, and also the biggest man whore in the town. So far, he had checked every single girl in the school off of his "To Fuck" list at least twice. And the school was eighty percent female.

"Hello Parker," Daniel sighed. "She's not interested."

"That's what you said about Melanie," Parker grinned, referring to a crush he had stolen from Daniel, subsequently turning her from virgin to the school's biggest whore who was currently pregnant. "As my friend said, my name's Parker." He bowed dramatically, Saber raising an eyebrow. "Might I inquire about your name, my lovely?"

Saber turned to Daniel. "Who's Melanie?"

"That's your first response?" Cameron asked, walking over, grinning from ear to ear. "Hell, and here I had just about given up hope of you ever finding a girl, Daniel."

Both Daniel and Saber blushed instantly.

"It's not like that!" Daniel said. "She's just a friend."

"Then she's available," Parker grinned.

"So, are you gonna tell us her name, or do we have to make one up?" a third friend of Daniel's asked, this one a boy about a year younger than Daniel, Cameron, and Parker, with brown hair the same shade as the other three in the quartet of friends, as well as thick-rimmed glasses with white tape in the middle, freckles, and a football player's build.

"Hello Tyler," Daniel said. "Since I know I don't want to hear whatever nickname you let Parker choose, this is Angel Saber, a friend of mine from away."

"How far away?" Parker grinned.

"I'm from Canada," Saber said, remembering what Daniel had put on the paperwork.

"Angel Saber," Tyler said. "Jesus. It sounds like she's a character from the Angel Blade series."

"Do you ever talk about anything that _isn't_ porn?" Cameron asked.

"Well, I talk about all the times I beat you in a duel," Tyler grinned.

"You guys annoy me," Daniel said. "Why are we friends again?"

"Because you're a loser who can't get any decent friends," Parker snorted. "Present company excluded, of course, my Angel."

"Sorry Parker, but I'm pledged to someone already," Saber said. "Besides that, I make it a rule to stay away from men who have diseases."

Parker went rigid, eyes widening slightly as Saber turned, walking away with Daniel, who grinned back at Parker, waving. Then, they walked into their first class, Daniel sitting at the back and Saber sitting beside him.

"The teacher will probably want you to introduce yourself to the class," Daniel warned. "Feel free to make something up if you want, but usually the new kid just says their name."

"Alright," Saber nodded.

Daniel sat quietly for a moment as they waited for the rest of the class to get there before a question occurred to him.

"Hey Saber, how was Morgana able to summon a Servant, when she herself is a Servant?" Daniel asked.

"Morgana is a very powerful and dangerous mage," Saber said. "She would probably have enough mana as it is, but in case she doesn't, Morgana is the type of mage that would happily sacrifice children in order to summon one. The corpses that were there were probably hers."

Daniel nodded. "Okay, so, how exactly are we getting to Japan? We can't just drive there, and I can't fly a plane, so unless you know how, we're going to have to find a lot of money very quickly."

"Actually, I _do_ know how to fly a plane," Saber said, Daniel staring at her. "What?"

"How do you...you know what, I don't want to know," Daniel said. "Since you can fly, I might be able to get us a plane. A friend of mine has a rich uncle a few towns over who owns a private jet."

"I assume he's not just going to give it to us," Saber guessed.

"No, we will probably have to steal it," Daniel said as the teacher walked in. "We'll work on a plan during lunch break. Oh, and whatever the teacher says during class, I know you're probably going to disagree entirely, but just try and let her speak."

"What are you talking about?" Saber asked.

"Good morning class," the teacher greeted, his belly struggling to hang out over his belt, his khakis neatly pressed and his jacket hanging open as he could no longer button it, the white button-up shirt and tie under it doing an admirable job at hiding how fat he really was. "Who's excited to learn British History and Literature?"

Saber turned to stare at Daniel who merely shrugged. Then, Saber sighed, listening to the teacher speak, interested to see how accurate British history had become.

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

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Making Plans

"Yeah sure, I can convince Uncle Andy to give you the jet," Daniel's friend Evan said.

Evan was a clone of both his father and uncle. He had a thin yet strong frame, wavy dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and a wide, kind smile. He always wore faded and patched jeans, a button up shirt with the top two buttons undone, and square-toed cowboy boots.

"Really?"

"Absolutely," Evan nodded. "What are you two going to Japan for, though?"

"She wants to visit an old friend," Daniel said. "Anyway, I'm going to assume that borrowing the jet isn't free."

"No it's not," Evan said. "You have to promise to bring me back something special."

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I'll let you decide what it's worth to you when you get there," Evan said.

"So, basically you're trusting that we won't just come back empty-handed?" Saber asked.

"Daniel's not going to rip me off," Evan chuckled. "He's the only guy I know that might end up _overpaying_ me."

"Thank you Evan," Daniel smiled. "But, fair warning, we'll be going around the time of the Holy Grail War. There's a chance..."

"You'll be fine," Evan smiled. "You may be shitty at dueling but you're plenty smart enough to know when to cut and run."

Daniel smiled and nodded. Then, Evan picked up his tray and walked away. Daniel smiled, sipping from his water bottle and sighed.

"Alright, so that's transportation. Now, how early do we want to leave? I can get all of my assignments online, so I can keep from failing. But how early do we want to be in Fuyuki?"

"Let's leave a week before it starts," Saber suggested. "That should be enough time for you to get your bearings of what's there, and after that, we can try and strategize about how to go about trying to win. That is, if you do want to win."

"I don't want to kill anyone," Daniel said. "And I don't want to wish for anything myself. But if it'll help you, I'll gladly try and win. But no killing the Masters, if we can avoid it."

"You remind me of my Master from the last war," Saber smiled. "He wanted to be a Hero of Justice and create a world where no one cries."

"He wanted to create Heaven on Earth," Daniel said. "Hubris. Only God can create that world. Humans can only ease one person's suffering by making another suffer. If you defend one side of a war from the other, then it can also be said that what you're doing is murdering the other side's people for the side you're protecting. If he wants to be a Hero of Justice, all he'll end up is a person who slowly whittles away at the people he wants to protect, constantly slaughtering the few in order for the many to pretend to be happy, until someone disagrees with them again."

"You're right," Saber nodded. "That's what we told him. But he's quite stubborn."

Daniel smiled, nodding. "Do you think he'll be in the war?"

"Probably, yes," Saber nodded. "And I have a feeling that I know exactly who he'll be summoning, since I'm no longer available for summoning."

"Who do you think we'll see?" Daniel asked.

"I'm not sure," Saber said. "I suppose we'll find out when we get to Japan."

Daniel nodded as they finally finished eating and stood, heading back to class. They sat down a few minutes before the bell rang and from there, they remained nearly silent until the end of class. A permission slip was handed around to all of the students, and as Daniel was his own guardian, and had listed himself as Saber's, he simply signed them and handed them back. Once finished, they were released from classes and left, Daniel stretching and yawning as they walked.

"What were the papers for?" Saber asked.

"I dunno, some class trip or another," Daniel said. "I always sign and then just not show up. No one ever says anything."

"I see," Saber nodded.

"Well hello my Angel," Parker called from behind them, grinning as they stopped so he could catch up.

"Parker, what was the paper for?" Saber asked.

"It was for a class trip to the beach," Parker grinned. "You'll be blessing us with you presence on that trip as well, won't you?"

Saber looked to Daniel, eyebrows raised curiously.

"Don't look at me," Daniel said. "If you want to go we can go."

Alright," Saber smiled. "It sounds like fun. When is it?"

"In four days," Parker beamed. "And I trust you'll be wearing a bikini, my Angel?"

"You can trust that if you try anything or stare at her too long you'll probably die," Daniel warned.

"Oh yes because you're so dangerous," Parker snorted.

"I wasn't talking about me," Daniel snorted. "Angel's the one you should be afraid of."

"Oh is that so?" Parker grinned. "How about it, Lovely Angel? Would you like to ditch this loser and have a fun, romantic time on the beach with me?"

"Sorry, but you creep me out," Saber said. "I'll stick with Daniel. Thanks for the offer though."

And with that, she turned, walking away. Daniel patted Parker on the back as Parker slumped forward.

"I don't understand," Parker said. "I never have trouble like this."

"She already told you that she wasn't available," Daniel said. "Besides, she's not really concerned with relationships."

And with that, he turned and caught up with Saber, slowing back down to a walk as they left the school grounds behind.

* * *

Daniel blinked several times, wiping tears from his eyes before sighing and raising his sword. He hated contacts. It had been two days since he had gotten them after school the same day Saber had decided to go to the beach. Two days since he had started having to jab himself in both eyes every morning. It sucked. But it helped. His depth perception had improved greatly, allowing him to actually challenge Saber. Sort of. He was able to block more than one strike each engagement, but only up to about five before she beat him. Finally, she stopped, sighing.

"You've got to find a way to read body language," Saber said. "You can predict an opponent's strikes if you can read body language."

"It's hard," Daniel said.

"I know," Saber nodded. "I trained for almost a decade before I was skilled with a sword. You'll learn. For now, try and stick to any long-ranged spells you know."

Daniel nodded and they headed into the house, Daniel making them both coffee, handing it to Saber, who tasted it and grimaced. "There's sugar and creamer over there if you want it."

"Thank you," Saber smiled, walking over to it and adding some. "The fifth Servant has been summoned. We may need to go to Japan sooner than expected."

"It's alright," Daniel said. "Evan will get us the jet. And maybe a pilot, if his uncle's in a good mood."

Saber nodded before a thought occurred to her. "We need to buy me more clothes. And a bathing suit."

Daniel nodded in agreement. They took turns cleaning up after training before heading out to his truck, taking it to town and then parking in the parking lot of Walmart. We walked inside, Saber heading immediately toward the clothing section while I followed along behind her. Over the next thirty minutes, Saber chose half a dozen outfits, as well as a dozen or so sets of undergarments and a pair of sunglasses. Daniel, being the generous idiot he was, ended up carrying most of it, Saber carrying the undergarments as a mercy. When they reached the checkout, Daniel piled it all onto the belt and stepped off to the side, letting Saber set the rest down. Then, he pulled out his wallet, sighing as he pulled out a hundred dollars to pay for everything. The cashier grinned.

"Oh, how sweet!" the cashier smiled. "He's a keeper."

Saber smiled, nodding, and Daniel rolled his eyes, paying for the clothes and picking up the bags, starting back out to the truck, Saber following with her sunglasses, smiling as she did.

"This was fun," Saber smiled.

"I'll never understand how women can love shopping so much," Daniel sighed. "But at least now you have something to wear."

Saber nodded, smiling and Daniel set the bags in the middle of the truck's seat, climbing in and closing his door as Saber did the same. As he started the truck, a thought occurred to him.

"Hey Saber, do you want a different combat outfit?" Daniel asked. "The dress looks like it might be a bit of a tripping hazard, and like it might get caught on something."

"Well, I suppose you're right," Saber nodded, thinking. "Back when I summoned the first time during the fourth Holy Grail War, the person my Master ordered me to protect had a three-piece suit tailor-made for me. I was quite fond of the suit. But I have to have my armor in battle. Why?"

"I know a mage tailor that might be able to make an outfit for you that gives the same protection as your armor," Daniel said. "But you'll have to let him take the armor to do it."

Saber's eyes widened for several seconds before she nodded, smiling. "Alright."

Daniel nodded, smiling, and drove five minutes down the road to my friend's store. Instantly he greeted me with an excessively violent handshake before beginning to take Saber's measurements.

"So what kind of dress are we considering?" he asked, talking fast and not even waiting for a response. "Prom? Valentines dance? Bride's maid? Oh, please tell me she needs a wedding dress!"

"James, cool it. She wants a three-piece suit."

James looked over at him in surprise before starting his measurements over again. "Full range of motion will be simple enough, and she's got the perfect build for a suit. Oh this is going to be wonderful! Now for the color. Black, definitely, but the shirt. Dark blue it is!"

And with that, he sped off to get to work.

"James, we're not done!" Daniel called out, James poking his head back into the room. "She needs it to be as protective as her armor."

"What armor?" James asked.

Saber was suddenly enveloped in light, leaving her in her dress and holding her amor before her. Jame's eyes widened and he walked over, taking the armor and inspecting it, turning it this way and that. Finally he nodded and rushed into the back again.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Daniel asked.

"For a friend of yours?" James asked without reappearing. "Three days! And it'll be a masterpiece."

"I'm counting on you James," Daniel smiled. "Come on. We should head home."

Saber nodded and they walked outside, getting into the truck and leaving. Thirty minutes later, they sat down to eat, Daniel having finished making dinner. They ate in relative silence, neither saying anything to the other. Then, once they were finished, Daniel quickly did his homework before they both headed to bed.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

* * *

Two Casters

His eyes roved around the table, taking in the smiling faces of his closest friends. The scene changed. A newcomer was kneeling before him, dressed in white armor with a pair of horns on the helmet, which hid their face, and red highlights. The scene changed again. He was standing on top of a wall, watching as that same newcomer, Mordred, fought and almost easily defeated four of his closest friends. Again it shifted. Mordred standing in front of him.

"So you won't acknowledge me as your son, is that it?"

Another shift. A field of corpses. Mordred killing yet another fellow knight. He raised a golden sword, Mordred turning toward him.

"Father."

* * *

Daniel's eyes snapped open and he stared up at the ceiling before slowly pushing himself up. He stared at the bed for several moments, trying to make sense of what he had seen. Finally, he climbed out of bed, showering and getting dressed, pulling his swimming trunks on underneath his pants. Then, he got himself a towel and went out to the kitchen, starting breakfast. The shower turned on as he worked, and by the time he finished setting the table, Saber walked into the dining room, wearing a white Tee-shirt and jeans. They ate quickly and Daniel drove them both to school where they got on the school bus, walking to the very back and sitting together. Within minutes, Parker was seated across the aisle from them, smiling happily at Saber.

"Good morning, my Angel," Parker beamed. "And how are you on this fine day?"

"Well, and yourself?" Saber asked politely.

"I'm much better, now that I'm near you," Parker smiled.

Daniel rolled his eyes, looking out the window. After a few more minutes, the bus began to move, leaving the school and heading toward the interstate. After a few minutes of being ignored, Parker finally took the hint and turned around, leaving Saber alone. Saber looked out the window as well, smiling at the scenery. Finally, after about twenty minutes, the bus finally parked, the doors opening and everyone fooding out, cheering and sprinting to the beach's changing rooms. The rooms were separated into male and female, rather than simply being one-person rooms, so everyone was able to change at once. Daniel changed quickly and walked outside, stepping into the sand and smiling as the hot sand enveloped his feet.

"Let's get this party started!" one of the students shouted, sprinting to the beach and instantly trying to find someone to hit on.

In minutes, there was a volleyball going, students were playing chicken, a lot of the girls were sunbathing, and some of the mages were dueling. Daniel loved living in a town so small the Mage's Association didn't care to try and keep magic a secret there. It made life much easier.

"There you are. Are you ready?"

Daniel turned, eyes widening slightly as he saw Saber standing there in probably the best bikini he had ever seen. To call it skimpy would _almost_ be an understatement. The bottoms were small, with the main piece white and a blue ribbon on each side, tied into a bow. The top was a white cloth wrapping around her chest from just barely below her breasts to maybe halfway up them on the outsides, then sloping down into a "V" with the cloth being only an inch wide at the point of the "V" and also on the section that wrapped around the back. Attached to the cloth on top was a blue ribbon that reached from between her shoulder blades up one side of the bikini top, twisted with itself further on at her collarbones, then reached up around her neck. From there, it wrapped back down, following the same path on the opposite side before meeting itself in a bow behind her.

Daniel forced himself to look away, feeling his cheeks heat up. "Uh, yeah. Ready. What do you want to do first?"

"Let's go lay our towels out then go for a swim," Saber said.

Daniel nodded, following her to an open spot where they lay their towels out, setting their shoes on it to hold it in place before heading to the water. They waded out until it was about waist deep before beginning to swim. Daniel swam slowly, watching as Saber swam around and around, enjoying herself further out. After several minutes, she swam over to him, smiling.

"You don't look like you're having much fun," she smiled.

"I'm having plenty of fun," Daniel smiled.

"You're barely doing anything," she smiled, looking around. "See that rock?" She pointed to a large, relatively smooth rock jutting up out of the water. "I'll race you to it."

"Sure," Daniel grinned, taking off as quickly as he could.

Saber stayed at his side for most of the way before smiling, quickly pulling ahead at the end and swimming around to the far side of the rock, pulling herself up onto it. Daniel sighed as he reached it, tipping back and kicking his legs up, beginning to float beside the rock.

"You really can be lazy, can't you?" Saber smiled down at him.

"Easily," Daniel smiled, only for Saber to playfully push him underwater.

He came back up sputtering and coughing before grinning, grabbing her by the arm and kicking off the rock, dragging her face first into the water. She pushed off of him, surfacing to breathe before they began to wrestle, trying to hold the other under, Saber letting him have a chance. Finally, they stopped, both pulling themselves onto the rock, lying beside each other and letting the sun warm them. Daniel smiled to himself, cracking an eye open and glancing at Saber, gaze flicking down to her bathing suit again unbidden, though he forced it away instantly, closing his eyes again and sighing contentedly.

"This is the first time I've even been able to swim at the beach," Saber said.

"Really?" Daniel asked, looking over at her.

Saber nodded, setting her feet on the water and standing for a moment before sitting back down. "A power I gained during my lifetime. It was the first time I had ever been to the beach, and by then, I was unable to ever go for fun. In life I was very busy at all times."

Daniel's mind flashed to his dream. "I can imagine. I doubt anyone could be a Heroic Soul if all they did was play on the beach."

Saber chuckled and nodded. "I suppose not. Still though, I wish I could do this more often."

"Maybe we can," Daniel said. "We can take a break from the war to play on the beach whenever you want, so long as no one finds us."

Saber smiled over at him before looking up at the sky again. "If only it were that simple."

Daniel remained silent for a time before sitting up and grinning. "Want to go beat Parker's ass at a duel?"

A grin slowly grew on Saber's face and she nodded. Then, they both dove into the water, swimming back quickly before walking over to the dueling area the others had set up. Everyone turned to watch as they reached it, Daniel nodding to Cameron and Parker. Both grinned, walking into the large rectangle. The rules were simple. Knock someone out of the rectangle or make them concede victory. Any loss of consciousness, no matter how short, resulted in forfeiture.

Parker started the duel, slamming a hand into the ground and sending a massive wall of sandstone shooting across the ground at them. Daniel swung a hand up, forming a barrier that the wall smashes against. Just as the barrier faded, Cameron stepped out with a pair of flaming daggers in reverse grip. Before he could use them, however, Saber summoned a wooden sword, forming wind magic around it and slamming it into his chest, launching him backward. He crashed down just inside the rectangle, groaning and slowly picking himself back up Parker sprinted forward, forming a stone bo staff as he did and jabbing it at Daniel. Thanks to him starting a ways away, Daniel managed to get out of the way, forming a sphere of wind magic that he then slammed into Parker's gut, launching him backward into Cameron and knocking both out of he rectangle. Saber smiled.

"You did well," Saber said, letting her sword fade. "I think I might need to use the wind magic without a sword inside it next time though."

Cameron sat up, staring at the shallow cut across his chest for a moment before healing it.

"I think I'll have to agree," Daniel nodded. "Who's next?"

* * *

Daniel sighed happily, the sun warming his skin, the gentle breeze keeping him from getting too hot, and Saber lying beside him. He glanced over at her, seeing she had drifted off to sleep. He smiled again, lying back down and watching the clouds overhead. It would be time to go soon. it was a shame, too. He really liked being at the beach. Sure enough, within a few more minutes, the chaperones were calling for everyone to get back on the bus. Daniel gently shook Saber awake and they picked up their towels, quickly changing back into their clothes in the bathroom before getting on. As they began to drive back, Saber began to fall asleep in her seat. Daniel smiled, gently pulling her onto his shoulder where she almost instantly dozed off. Beside him, Parker was giving him an impressively intimidating death glare. And he managed to keep it up all the way back to school too.

Once back, Daniel woke Saber up and they left, heading to the car. He drove them both to town, parking in front of the tailor shop and they walked inside, James meeting them at the door.

"Welcome back! It's finally finished! Oh I can't wait for you to try it on! Come on! There's no reason to be shy! Let's go!"

He all but dragged Saber into the back, and a couple minutes later, she walked out wearing a suit and a pair of black gloves. Her hair was in a ponytail now and she was smiling.

"You look amazing," Daniel smiled.

Saber smiled, inspecting her suit and testing its flexibility. Daniel smiled, turning to James.

"Excellent work as always," Daniel said. "And the armor?"

"Fully integrated into the suit," James said. "It went even better than I'd hoped. It should be even stronger now than it was alone."

"How?" Daniel asked.

James turned to the doorway as an elderly man in a tattered brown robe with a gnarled walking stick and a long grey beard stepped out, Saber freezing the moment she saw him.

"Merlin?" Saber gaped. "You're...but how?"

"This is Caster," James said.

"Caster?" Daniel blinked. "That's impossible. Morgana was Caster."

"Morgana?" Merlin blinked. "Two Casters? No. There must be a mistake. She was probably lying to you. I can promise you that I am the Caster class Servant."

"Morgana had no reason to lie to us about it," Saber said. "There's something strange going on here."

"I agree," Daniel said. "We should go early."

Saber nodded and they payed for the suit then left. Daniel drove home in silence, walking inside as soon as he was parked and then stopping in the kitchen. Two Casters was impossible. There could only be one of each Servant class. So how the hell were there two Casters?

"Something very strange is going on," Saber said as she stepped into the house.

"I agree," he nodded. "How many Servants have been summoned?"

"Six," Saber said. "Should we leave tomorrow?"

"Yes," Daniel nodded. "I'll call Evan."

Saber nodded moving to start getting things ready for him to make dinner. As she worked, Daniel dialed.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Evan, we need the plane tomorrow," Daniel said. "Something's come up and we need to go ahead of schedule."

"Sure thing," Evan agreed. "Tomorrow's Saturday so I'll swing by your house in the morning. Sound good?"

"Yes," Daniel said. "See you then." He hung up and sighed. "Something is so very wrong. What happens if the rules don't apply and it's not only seven servants anymore?"

"Then we're going to be in a lot more danger than we thought," Saber said. "Gilgamesh will probably return. And I doubt he's the only one."

"Can you defeat Gilgamesh?" Daniel asked.

"No," Saber said. "But a friend of mine might be able to."

Daniel nodded. "Okay. So, we'll have to make sure we find your friend first. Hopefully before this Gilgamesh finds us."

Saber nodded as well as Daniel set the food on the table. "To answer your unspoken question, I don't know how there can be more than one Caster class Servant at a time. During the last war, there were two Archers because of Gilgamesh being bathed in the contents of the Holy Grail in the war before that. But this time, nothing like that has happened. And Gilgamesh also disappeared after the last war, so whatever anomaly it was, it was corrected. If there is no longer a limit to the number of each kind of Servant, there's no telling who or what we may end up facing. It will likely turn to all out war between multiple armies of Masters and Servants."

Daniel nodded. "I was afraid of that. We'll need to find allies. And we'll need to get a lot stronger as fast as we can."

Saber nodded. "I am not the most powerful Saber there is. There are numerous Saber class Servants more powerful than I am. Should we meet a Servant I cannot defeat myself, I want you to flee, Master. Get as far away from the battle as you can."

"Okay," Daniel nodded. "But you had better be there with me when I run."

Saber stared at her plate for a moment before nodding. Then, they both fell silent as they ate before going to bed.

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

* * *

First Stop: Familiar Faces

Daniel watched as the ground slowly shrunk into the distance. After several moments, he sat back into his seat, looking over at Saber as she calmly piloted the ship higher. Then, once they had reached the altitude they'd be traveling at, she leveled out, activating the auto pilot. She stood, walking toward the back of the jet, Daniel following. The jet was nice. The rear was open and spacious. It had a handful of very comfortable leather seats, a bed, a stripper pole, which Daniel was less surprised about than he thought he would be, and a mini-fridge filled with alcohol and some soda. He pulled out a coke and took a sip while Saber pulled out a bottle of wine, pulling the cork out and taking a drink.

"I keep forgetting you're not actually as old as you look," Daniel smirked.

"Technically, given the year I was born in, I'm actually centuries old," Saber said.

"True," Daniel nodded, taking another drink of his coke. "So, we're stopping in London first?"

"Yes," Saber nodded. "Two of my friends will be here, with at least one Servant. We'll need that Servant's help to defeat Gilgamesh, if he does, in fact, get summoned."

"I'm sure he will," Daniel said. "Well, we have several hours to waste. What do you want to do?"

Saber looked around thoughtfully, eyes hovering on the bed for a moment before continuing. Finally, she shrugged.

"Whatever you want to do."

Daniel sighed, smiling and shaking his head. He could feel one idea scratching at the back of his mind but he ignored it. "Well, there's really not much _to_ do. I suppose we could play video games." He gestured to the TV off to one side with an Xbox beside it. "Or we could sleep."

"I've never played video games before," Saber said.

"Good," Daniel said. "I think I know just the one for you, too."

He turned the game on, searching through the cabinet the TV was standing on before pulling out a game and pushing it into the Xbox. A moment later, Mortal Kombat X began to play.

"What's this?" Saber asked.

"It's a fighting game," Daniel said. "Each character has set abilities and attacks, as well as set strengths and weaknesses, such as high power but low speed, high speed but low power, balanced, high health, low health, and so on. The way I figure it, you'll probably be good at this game. It could be sort of like two Servants fighting."

"I suppose I can see the similarities," Saber nodded. "Alright, let's give it a try."

* * *

Daniel sighed, resting his face in his hand. After one round to get accustomed to the controls, Saber had successfully beaten him in every other round without taking a single hit. He had tried the speed fighter, the power fighter, the fighter with the overpowered finishing move that kills in one hit, even the one that can negate all damage while still hurting the opponent. Nothing had even come close to hitting her.

"How?" Daniel groaned. "How are you so strong even in a video game?"

"You should be happy about having a powerful Servant," Saber said.

"I am, but come on! Would it kill you to let me at list hit you once in a while?"

Saber chuckled, smiling and shaking her head. "Would you feel better about hitting me because I let you, or because you actually hit me?"

Daniel groaned, tipping his head back and covering his face, dragging his hand down to his chin before sitting up. "Fine. One more try."

Saber nodded as she chose a balanced character with minimal health and he chose the one with the most health. About thirty seconds later, she won yet again and Daniel's eye began to twitch.

"Okay, I quit," Daniel said. "You win. I can't beat you at anything."

Saber smiled and turned to him. "So, what do you want to do next?"

Daniel sighed, looking around before his eyes fell to rest on the bed. "Honestly. Not a single thing. But since you have to stay awake to make sure we don't crash, I'll have to stay awake with you. So, want to try another game?"

Saber smiled and nodded.

* * *

Daniel pushed the door open, walking down the steps and looking around. There were several runway workers waiting to take the plane to taxi it to an area where it wasn't in the way. He turned, looking back as Saber walked down the steps carrying her luggage. It was a backpack with a few sets of clothing inside of it, and in her other hand was his own. He took it from her, thanking her, before pulling it on, the two of them walking out of the airport together and then beginning through the city.

"So, where are these friends of yours?" Daniel asked.

"They said they'd meet us at the park," Saber said.

"Um, Saber, this is London," Daniel said. "Which park?"

"They didn't say," Saber shrugged. "I suppose we'll just have to pick one and hope for the best."

They walked in relative silence until they reached a park that was mostly deserted, only a few couples hanging around. Daniel scratched his nose as that part registered.

"Do you see them?" Daniel asked.

"No," Saber said, looking around. "But it's a big park, and they might be in another part of it."

Daniel nodded and they continued walking, both looking around carefully. "So, what do they look like?"

"Well, she's got black hair and tends to wear a lot of red, and he's got bright orange hair," Saber said. "Or, actually he might have white hair by now. I'm not sure."

Daniel nodded, looking around. Off to one side was a man about eight feet tall with a white shirt, red hair, a ridiculously muscular build, pants, and sandals. In front of him was a man with straight black hair, an average face and build, and a kind smile.

"Um, that's a Servant, right?" Daniel asked, indicating the freakishly large man.

"King of Conquest?" Saber calls out, the large man turning to her and grinning broadly.

"King of Knights!" he exclaims, walking over and shaking her offered hand. "It has been too long. How have you been?"

"Well, and yourself?" Saber asked.

"Better than others," the man said. "This must be your Master. I am Iskandar, King of Conquest. You may know me as Alexander the Great."

"It's an honor to meet you," Daniel says. "I'm Daniel. I'm no one special."

"This is my Master and friend," Iskandar said, indicating the man who had walked over. "Waver Velvet."

"Nice to meet you," Daniel smiled, offering his hand, Waver shaking it.

"And you," Waver nodded.

"Well, I should feel honored," a voice said just before someone wearing white, full-plate armor with red highlights and a pair of horns on their helmet landed in front of them, a silver broadsword with a red cross near the tip resting across their back. "I get to kill two kings in one fight!"

"Mordred," Daniel and Saber both said, looking at each other in surprise.

"Hello again, Father," Mordred snarled.

"Um...I think I misheard you," Iskandar said. "Did you just say...Father?"

"That's right," Mordred snarled. "She's my father!"

"Um...how, exactly, can a woman be the father of another woman?" Daniel asked.

Mordred shouted in rage, shooting forward only for both Iskandar and Saber to block the slash, throwing Mordred backward. "Don't ever refer to me as a woman!"

Daniel stared at her in confusion. "So...you don't want to be referred to as a...not a man?"

"No!"

"But...you are...in fact...not a man?"

"Yes! What are you blind!?"

"So...wait...if you don't want to be referred to as a...not a man...are you..."

"Jesus Christ! No! And if you say 'not a man' one more time I'm going to cut your tongue out and shove it up your ass!"

Daniel stared at her. "So...Mordred's a girl."

"Yes," Saber nodded.

"And you're a girl."

"Yes!" Mordred spat.

"But...you're the father? How?"

"More literally than you think," Saber said. "Merlin cast a spell that messed up and turned me into a...pseudo-male, I suppose, for a short while. While I was-"

"Jesus Christ! What difference does it make!?" Mordred seethed. "I came here to kill you all! Not listen to my mother talk about how I was conceived!"

"But...you're both women," Daniel said, brain struggling to understand. "So, if you're the father, who's the mother?"

"Morgana," Saber said.

"Wait, like, Arthurian Legends, Morgana?" Damian asked. "Like, sister to Arthur Pendragon? And that would make Mordred-"

"Arthur's incest child with his sister, yes!" Mordred said. "Can we fight now, or do you need to be explained how sex works too?"

Daniel blinked twice and Mordred groaned.

"What, don't tell me you're surprised that she's King Arthur," Mordred said. "Didn't you ever ask her name?"

"I figured she'd tell me whenever she was ready," Daniel shrugged. "Anyway, what exactly are you trying to kill us for?"

"Wha...it's a war!" Mordred spat.

"This seems a little more personal than a war," Daniel said.

"She's angry that I refused to acknowledge her claim to the throne," Saber said. "She's wanted revenge ever since."

"I see," Daniel nodded. "Alright then. Saber, do whatever you feel is necessary."

Saber nodded and shot forward, slashing at Mordred, only for Mordred to deflect the sword upward, slashing back down instantly. Before the strike could land, Saber pivoted around Mordred, slashing from behind. Mordred rolled out of the way, stopping on her feet as Iskandar appeared over her, slashing downward. Mordred blocked it, shoving it to the side and shooting forward again, slashing at Saber only for Saber to block the strike, the two swords pushing against each other's. Saber shoved the sword upward and Iskandar stepped forward, catching a kick Mordred threw at Saber's side, hurling her sideways. Saber followed, slashing at Mordred only for Mordred to flip over the strike, panting her feet and leaping at Saber again.

"So...what exactly's going on here?" a male voice behind Daniel asked.

He turned, sighing. "Basically, the blonde in armor is the other blonde's daughter and she's trying to kill her for not accepting her."

"I see," the man nodded, running a hand through his bright orange hair, the girl with black hair and a blood red coat standing beside him, cocking her hip, on hand resting on it. "Saber can handle it. Huh, she looks pretty good in a suit."

"Hey idiot, quit checking out saber!" the girl snapped.

Daniel who had just realized who they were, coughed into his hand, the guy grinning.

"Well now, didn't see that coming," the guy smirked. "So the kid's got a thing for his Servant. Looks like you won't be the first to claim that victory though."

The girl smacked him, hard, Daniel blushing profusely.

"Technically Saber was, apparently, the literal father," Daniel said, not really sure why they were discussing this.

"Wait, what?" the guy asked.

"It's complicated," Daniel said.

"I bet," the girl said. "I'm Rin Tohsaka."

"I'm Shiro Emiya," the guy said.

"Daniel Johnson," Daniel said. "You two speak excellent English. You're Japanese, though, right?"

"That's right," Rin nodded.

"Heads up!" a voice shouted from above.

They all looked up just as a girl with pink hair in a long braid with a blue ribbon on the left side with a white feather under it, a white cape, an armored skirt, thigh-high black stockings, armored boots, a sword hanging from her hip, and a white and gold jousting spear landed before them. She stood, smiling.

"Hi, I'm Astolfo!" she greeted.

"It's...uh...nice to meet you ma'am," Daniel said, unsure whether to be happy or worried that yet another Servant had shown up.

"You asshole!" Astolfo shouted, blushing. "I'm a guy!"

"Huh!?" all three humans shouted.

"What do you mean 'huh' you idiots!?" Astolfo shouted, blushing even more. "Isn't it obvious!?"

"Well...I mean...you have pink hair in a braid...and a skirt," Daniel pointed out.

"And stockings," Rin added.

"Fair enough," Astolfo said. "So anyway, what's going on?"

"Well, as simply as I can put it, the blonde in armor is trying to kill the other blonde," Daniel said.

"And Rider is a friend of the blonde in the suit and is helping her," Waver said.

"Wait, Rider?" Daniel blinked, watching as Iskandar fought Mordred as Saber recovered from being kicked in the head. "I thought from his skill that he was a Saber."

"Nope," Waver said. "All the skill of a Saber but considered a Rider."

"Awesome," Astolfo said. "I didn't think there could be more than one Rider."

"You're a Rider?" Daniel blinked. "I'd have guessed a Lancer, or another Saber, considering there are already two of them fighting."

"Nope, Rider," Astolfo said.

"Astolfo!" a voice shouted as a boy roughly a year or so older than Daniel jogged over. "Don't go running off like that!"

"You must be her, sorry, _his_ Master," Rin said. "So, how many more do you think will show up?"

"With both Mordred and Saber here, probably Morgana," Daniel said. "At which point, Saber and I will be leaving. Quickly. Speaking of which, where are you two's Servants?"

"Mine's watching from a distance, since he's an Archer class," Rin said. "His is...probably also on the way."

"Who are they?" Daniel asked.

"Well, that's a bit of a long story," Rin smiled, Shiro sighing.

Just then, Iskandar and Saber both crashed down in front of them, Mordred leaping forward to kill them, only for Astolfo to block the slash, barely. Mordred leapt back, glaring at them as the other two stood.

"This is...problematic," Saber growled.

"She's stronger than you isn't she?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," Saber nodded. "But mostly because her Master is stronger than you. In life we were roughly even."

"So we'll have to kill her Master, then," Daniel said.

"Has the war even actually started?" Rin asked.

"There are two Sabers and two Riders around us," Daniel said. "I'd say the rules don't matter anymore."

"Agreed," Iskandar nodded. "Something is inherently horribly wrong with this Holy Grail War."

"Enough talking!" Mordred shouted. "I'll kill you all!"

She raised her sword over her head, several metal plates running up from the cross guard leaned outward, blood red energy flying off of the blade into the air. Saber raised her own sword, the wind clearing as golden light began to gather around her shining golden blade.

"Saber don't!" Daniel said.

"It's alright," Saber said. "Have faith."

Daniel looked between the two as their attacks began to reach their maximum power. "Okay."

"Excalibur!" Saber shouted as both slashed.

For a moment, the two blasts clashed. Then, the red energy sliced through the golden energy as it transformed into golden flames. Daniel shot forward, grabbing Saber and leaping to the side. The others also scattered and the red energy blasted through the ground for nearly a hundred meters. At the same time, the golden flames reached Mordred, exploding and blinding everyone momentarily.

Daniel blinked, rubbing his eyes as his vision began to return, blurry at first but sharpening, leaving Mordred standing, using her sword for support and with her armor blasted apart, exposing her head, shoulders, entire right arm, left leg, and a patch of her right calf on the side.

"Damn you!" Mordred snarled. "I almost had her!"

"I'm not letting you kill Saber," Daniel said, forming a wind blade from his wooden handle. "If you want to keep fighting, you'll be dealing with me."

"And me," Shiro said, stepping up beside him with a pair of short scimitars, one with a black blade with red octagon designs and the other white.

"And me," Rin said, a black sphere of mana forming around her outstretched hand, a red aura around it.

"And me," a feminine voice said off to the side.

They all turned and stared at a blonde wearing an open full-length violet coat with short sleeves, a purple shirt underneath, a silver crown-like object in the shape of a rounded "M", silver gauntlets and boots, a strip of silver metal around her abdomen, chains running from the armor from her abdomen up to a metal plate guarding the front of her throat and collar bones, with a second chain running around behind her neck, thigh-length stockings, and holding a guidon with a sharpened double-edged dagger blade on the top and a spike on the bottom. Her hair was in a long braid, and she all but radiated power.

"There you are," Shiro smiled. "You were almost late."

"I apologize," she said.

"Dammit," Mordred growled. "My Master's calling me back. Guess we'll settle this another time."

And with that, she vanished. Daniel sighed, letting his blade fade and turning to Saber, who crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"What?" Daniel asked. "We had plenty of back up."

"Never again, Master," Saber said.

"No promises," Daniel said. "But I will keep my earlier promise."

Saber glared at him for a moment longer before sighing. "Anyway, thank you for helping."

"You're welcome," the newest Servant said. "My name is Jeanne D'Ark."

"My name is Arturia Pendragon," Saber said.

"Jeanne D...Jeanne...Joan...oh my God," Daniel said, staring at Jeanne in shock and awe. "Joan of Ark. It's...an honor. Truly. I'm Daniel Johnson. I'm...no one special."

"I see," Jeanne nodded.

"Someone's a fan," Shiro chuckled. "I'm Shiro."

"She singlehandedly led the French to victory against a vastly superior force," Daniel said. "Then corrupt politicians worked with the English to burn her at the stake as a witch."

"So...you're a fan," Shiro grinned.

"Shut up!" Daniel grumbled.

Just then, a Servant with a red coat over a black shirt, black pants, tan skin and white hair combed back appeared beside Rin.

"This is Archer," Rin said. "He's..."

"He's my future self, as a Heroic Spirit," Shiro said, everyone turning to stare at him.

"How did you become a Heroic Spirit?" Daniel asked.

"He became a Hero of Justice," Archer said. "He fought to create a world where no one would need to cry."

"He failed," Daniel assumed.

"Yes," Archer said. "Instead of ending tears, he spent his life chipping away at those he wanted to protect. He killed time and again, slaughtering the few to save the many."

"It's worth it if I become a hero of Justice," Shiro said.

"But you won't," Daniel said. "A hero to the people, maybe. But never a hero of Justice. Humans don't even know what true justice is. Only God knows that. The world you want to create is called Heaven. If you want to send people to that world, you would have to convert them all to Christianity, then kill them and send them to Heaven. That's how you send people to a world where tears no longer exist. Is that what you want? To kill everyone? To kill Rin?"

"I...no," Shiro said. "You're right. I can't create Heaven on Earth. But I can work to keep the people I know happy."

"And what about everyone else?" Daniel asked. "So you fight to protect your own friends and family, but what about the friends and family of the people you kill? You say you don't want anybody to cry, but when you kill someone, wouldn't their family cry? Won't their friends cry? Your dream isn't just hypocritical, it's foolish. Even the slightest bit of thinking about it and you know that it can't happen."

Shiro stared at the ground in silence for a long moment.

Finally, Saber cleared her throat. "Daniel and I were planning to head to Japan tomorrow. Given the fact that the rules have obviously changed, I think we might need to reconsider that plan."

"You can stay with us while we decide," Rin offered. "Our apartment's not far."

Saber and Daniel both nodded and they all turned, walking away from the battleground and following Rin and Shiro to their apartment.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own any of the original Fate series characters.

* * *

Making Friends

The apartment was spacious enough for everyone except Iskandar, who had to stay in spirit form. They all found a seat around the room, Shiro and Rin on the bed, Archer in the window as lookout, Jeanne D'Ark beside him, Astolfo's Master on her other side, followed by Astolfo, then Waver, then finally Saber and Daniel.

"To begin with, I don't think we ever got your name," Daniel said, looking to Astolfo's Master.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I'm Sieg."

"It's nice to meet you," Saber said.

"It's nice to see you again Sieg," Jeanne smiled, Sieg returning the smile.

"You have red eyes," Rin noted. "You're a homunculus, right? Are you an Einzburn?"

"No," Sieg said. "The family that made me hails from Romania. But they don't have the Einzburn's skill at creating Homunculus. The homunculi they create can only live for about three years, assuming that they survive any battles they're sent into, which they never do. I'd be long dead now too, if not for Siegfried."

"Siegfried?" Daniel asked.

"A Heroic Spirit who was ordered to kill Sieg, but instead gave him his heart to save his life," Astolfo said. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Sounds like he was a great friend," Daniel said. "So, how many Heroic Spirits do we actually expect?"

"An army," Archer said. "If there are no restrictions for how many of each class can be summoned, we have to assume that anyone who tries can summon one, even if not a powerful one."

"How many heroic Souls are there?" Waver asked.

"Infinite," Daniel said. "Considering that Archer is from the future, we have to assume that there are literally infinite Heroic Souls."

"That's fair," Saber nodded. "We need to make a plan to deal with the other Servants. For example, Gilgamesh."

"He's ours," Shiro said. "Archer and I will tear him apart."

"Alright," Saber nodded. "I will deal with Morgana and Mordred myself. They'll be after me, so I have to be the one to stop them."

"I'll be helping," Daniel said, Saber glaring at him. "What else might we find?"

"Caster," Rin growled.

"Medea," Archer corrected. "She's dangerous."

"Gilles de Rais," Saber said, Jeanne's head snapping around toward her.

"What?" Jeanne asked.

"I fought him two wars ago," Saber said. "He controls demons and tried to destroy the entire world. He might have, too, if we hadn't stopped him."

"There's also the possibility of meeting Siegfried, Achilles, Vlad the Third, Karna, Spartacus, Hercules, Lancelot," Waver listed. "Those are some of the strongest I can think of."

"Well, Karna naturally hates Gilgamesh, so if necessary, we can pit them against each other," Jeanne said. "Karna may also be able to be turned against Vlad the Third."

"For a lot of the rest, we'll have to target the Master, and get really lucky," Rin said.

"We need to know what's wrong with the war this time," Astolfo said.

"Agreed," Daniel said. "Who's the overseer?"

"I'm not actually sure," Rin said. "But I know where we can find them."

Daniel nodded. "We'll start with talking to them. Now, something else that's been bugging me. Has anyone ever actually gotten the grail?"

"Yes," Jeanne said. "One per war for the first three."

"How'd it end?" Daniel asked.

"I...I don't know," Jeanne said. "I don't know if any Servant has ever actually kept enough mana to see what happens when the grail is activated."

"So, no one even knows if the legend is true," Daniel said. "We only know that it's an incredibly powerful object that holds the power of all the dead Servants."

"Daniel," Saber said.

"Sorry," Daniel sighed. "I guess I'm just a little...annoyed by being attacked by a super powerful Servant almost the moment we step off the plane. Plus I'm still confused about how that Servant came to be."

Saber sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, I'm a little hungry after that fight. Could we have dinner?"

Rin nodded and Shiro stood, stretching and walking out of the room, Rin following.

"I'm going to go and stretch my legs," Astolfo said, standing.

Sieg and Jeanne both stood as well and Archer turned, sighing as he formed a bow in his hand, an arrow nocked and ready.

"There's a spare room down the hall on the left you two can use," Archer said, firing.

"What was that?" Saber asked.

"One of Rin's familiars," Archer grinned.

"Archer!" Rin shouted from the kitchen. "Knock it off!"

"I just did!" Archer shouted back, a mischievous grin on his face.

Daniel grinned, shaking his head and standing, offering his hand to Saber. She accepted his help, following him out of the room and down the hallway to the spare room. Daniel opened the door, allowing Saber to enter before closing the door. The room was simply decorated. One twin bed, one small window with a section of rooftop below it, a bathroom attached with a toilet, a bathtub and shower combined, and a sink. The room was made for one person, but given they were in an apartment with a spare room that had its own bathroom, Daniel was impressed. Where he lived, apartments were usually two or three rooms total.

"Not much in the way of decorations," Daniel noted.

"Why'd you interfere?" Saber asked, staring out the window.

"Like I said, we had plenty of backup," Daniel said.

"You're a terrible liar," Saber said, turning around and narrowing her eyes at him. "Tell me the truth."

Daniel sighed, walking past her to the window and leaning against the side of it, watching cars drive by in the street below them. "I didn't want to see you hurt, alright? I don't want you to be hurt. Especially because of me."

"That's what I was summoned to do," Saber said. "To fight and possibly die for you."

"No," Daniel said. "You were summoned because of an accident. I was about to die and I somehow accidentally summoned you. And then you saved my life. That doesn't mean I want you to die for me."

Saber sighed, sitting on the bed. "And what makes you think I want you to?"

"I know you don't," Daniel sighed. "But...I can't just stand there and watch you die. If I _can_ help you, then I'm going to."

"You made a promise," Saber said.

"So did you," Daniel said. "And if I have to run away and you can't, then I'm going to make sure you can keep your promise before I keep mine."

Saber stared at him before sighing, a small smile spreading over her face.

"You remind me of...someone I once knew," Saber smiled.

"A friend?"

"The best," Saber smiled, light enveloping her, leaving her in a white blouse and a full-length blue skirt. "Please don't take any unnecessary risks. I don't want you to die."

"We're going to be fighting a war, Saber," Daniel said. "It'll be nothing but risk. As I'm sure you know."

"I know," Saber nodded. "We need to figure out how to fix your reaction time."

"I know," Daniel sighed. "I wish I knew a type of magic that could help me read body language. I'd trade telepathy for that any day."

"You know telepathy?" Saber blinked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You idiot! That's exactly what you need to fix it!" Saber said. "God, you're so stupid! You have the power to look into another's mind and read their actions before they even begin to do them! That's exactly what you need!"

"But, don't most fighters use instinct to fight?" Daniel asked.

"Yes but that doesn't matter!" Saber said. "Even when fighting with instinct, your brain tells your body how to move. Even when running on pure, uncontrolled instinct, you would be able to read those commands before they even reach their destination, then react accordingly."

"Really?" Daniel blinked. "I've never thought about that."

Saber sighed, shaking her head and forming a pair of wooden swords, handing one to him. "Try it on me."

Daniel nodded, readying himself before extending his mind. Sure enough, just before Saber stepped forward, he sensed, in a way, what she was going to do. She slashed overhead at him and he blocked it. She dropped and he jumped over it, landing and stepping back as she slashed at him. She stood, stabbing at him and he knocked the blade aside, slashing at her. She rolled sideways, standing and lunging at him again. She slashed from one side and he blocked it, Saber spinning the other way. He turned, blocking it again before shoving it upward, slashing at her. She blocked it and shoved it aside, catching his arm and putting her sword to his throat, looking down to see a sphere of wind hovering in front of her stomach.

"Much better," Saber smiled. "You see the difference?"

"I do," Daniel nodded, letting his spell fade as Saber released his arm.

"Now, are you ready to see if you can keep up with me without me holding back?"

"It's worth a shot," Daniel nodded.

Saber nodded as well, backing away, readying herself and Daniel did the same. Then, they charged, swords clashing quickly.

* * *

Sieg walked down the path silently, stopping in a clear area of the park, turning back to Astolfo and Jeanne. Astolfo nodded wordlessly, summoning his lance as Sieg drew the sword she had given him so long ago. Astolfo charged and slashed at Sieg only for Sieg to block the slash, shoving the blade upward and slashing at Astolfo. Astolfo jumped back then jabbed his lance at Sieg. Sieg deflected the strike and stabbed at Astolfo. Astolfo deflected it with the back of his lance and then slammed his lance into Sieg's side. Sieg flipped, landing on his feet, readying himself.

"Not bad," Astolfo nodded. "You've improved over the years. How are you doing with learning to tap into his power?"

"I can't sustain it much longer than the first time, and if I use his Noble Phantasm, I transform back instantly, but I can transform relatively easily now."

Astolfo motioned for him to demonstrate and Sieg nodded, blue mana shining over his body before fading, leaving a taller man with silver hair down his back, blue eyes, glowing blue markings on his chest and reaching up his neck to his right cheek, and silver armor with his chest exposed. The sword had transformed into Siegfried's just the same way Sieg had transformed into Siegfried. Astolfo nodded and charged again, Sieg blocking her attacks easily this time.

"Good," Astolfo nodded as Sieg allowed himself to transform back, sighing. "Alright. Now I've got to go and take care of something. I'll be back later."

Sieg nodded and Astolfo faded. Sieg sighed, sitting on a bench as Jeanne sat beside him, smiling.

"You've become very strong," Jeanne smiled. "I missed you, Sieg."

"I missed you too," Sieg smiled. "I'm glad you were summoned."

"So am I," Jeanne smiled.

They sat in silence for a bit before standing. As they began to walk back, Sieg slipped his hand into hers, Jeanne smiling, lacing their fingers together. Sieg smiled, glancing at her before turning back to the front.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

 _"Telepathic conversations."_

 _Thoughts._

* * *

Confession

Daniel stepped off of the plane, stretching and yawning. At the bottom of the stairs, a woman with straight purple hair with a red bow in one side was waiting. He said hello and she cocked her head to the side, not understanding, of course. He turned, waiting for the others. Saber was first, reaching the bottom of the steps and bowing, greeting Sakura in Japanese, Sakura returning the gesture before Shiro and Rin reached the bottom of the steps, the three of them sharing a three-way hug. Daniel sighed, rolling his eyes as the rest of the group left the plane, gathering at the bottom as the door was closed and the plane was pulled away.

"We should find someplace to talk," Daniel said. "Also, who is she?"

"She's a friend of Shiro and Rin's," Saber said.

"I see," Daniel nodded.

"Come on," Rin said. "Sakura says we can stay at her house since she's a Master too."

"She's what?" Daniel blinked just as a Lancer with a red spear, a blue body suit with silver pauldrons, and black hair with a long ponytail appeared beside her.

"Nice to meet you," he smiled. "I'm Lancer."

"One of them, at least," Daniel snorted. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you."

Daniel followed the others in silence, being the only one not able to speak Japanese. After a few minutes, they reached a large house, compared to what Daniel was used to, and Sakura slid the door open, everyone walking into the building and slipping their shoes off on a cement square, then leaving them there and stepping up onto the wood floor of the house. Daniel did the same and followed the others to the living room which had just enough chairs if the Servants all stood, Daniel standing at the edge of the room instead of sitting, feeling like an outsider without understanding.

"Alright, so, what's the plan?"

"First we need to find out exactly how many Servants there are," Rin said. "Then we need to figure out who the Masters are. We discussed it on the way over and we decided that we're going to get as many allies as we can."

"That's great and all, but what happens when we're all that's left?" Daniel asked. "Doesn't the grail only work for the one and only survivor?"

"Actually, the grail's been finished early before," Saber said. "When I was fighting alongside Shiro's father, it was finished while there were still two of us. The rest of the fighting was over who would get to use it."

"What exactly _is_ the Grail?" Daniel asked. "I understand it's not the cup."

"It's a doorway to the Root," Archer said. "The source of all mana and magic."

"Okay," Daniel nodded. "So, it's a weapon."

"That's one of our theories," Rin said. "We're all in agreement that the Holy Grail needs to be destroyed during this war. If you agree, excellent. If not, we could still use your help."

"I'm all for destroying the grail," Daniel said, turning to Saber. "But, are you okay with this Saber? What about your wish?"

"I agree with them," Saber nodded. "The grail wars cannot be allowed to continue."

"Okay," Daniel nodded. "What do we do?"

"We start by wiping out as many of the enemy servants as we can," Rin said. "Starting with Gilgamesh."

"Not starting with Gilgamesh," Archer said. "I need a few days to train Shiro."

"Then we can start with Morgana," Daniel said. "She's dangerous and needs to be destroyed. Mordred too, probably."

"Most of the strongest will probably be against us," Iskandar said. "We'll have to take them all down."

Daniel felt something tickling at the back of his mind as Sakura spoke, the others all switching to Japanese while they talked. Daniel turned, walking out of the room, being guided by the tickling sensation, in a sense that his body seemed to know where he was going. Finally, he reached a back door and slid it open, finding a man wearing a cloak standing in front of him.

* * *

Saber looked around, realizing Daniel had disappeared. She turned, walking out of the room, extending her senses to find him and locating him at the back. She walked through the house until she found him at a back door, stopping as he stared out of it, lost in thought.

"Are you okay?" Saber asked.

"Oh, Saber," Daniel said. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"What about?" Saber asked.

"Nothing major," Daniel said. "I couldn't understand anything being said anyway, so I figured you could fill me in later."

"I see," Saber nodded. "If you want, you could use your telepathy to copy my understanding of languages. You'd be as fluent in them as I am. It might take a day for the knowledge to take root, but at least you'd understand."

Daniel smiled and nodded. "Sure. Thanks Saber. I'll do it later, though. That sounds like it's going to give me a headache I'll want to sleep off."

Saber nodded, stepping up beside him and staring out at the back yard, then up at the moon beginning to rise.

"Why don't you use my name?" Saber asked. "You know who I am now, and there's no point in trying to hide it. So why not use it?"

"Like I said before, I figured you'd tell me your name when you were ready," Daniel said, Saber staring at him. He turned, smiling at her and she smiled back before turning back to the door.

"I see," she smiled, turning toward him fully, holding a hand out. "My name is Arturia Pendragon."

"Daniel Johnson," Daniel smiled, shaking her hand. "It's an honor to meet you Arturia."

"But more of an honor to meet Jeanne D'Ark," Arturia grinned.

"Hey, that wasn't anything personal," Daniel said. "I've just always considered her one of my heroes."

Arturia smiled, shaking her head before turning away from the door. "Let's go. The last thing we need is you bringing every other Servant currently alive after us."

"But that would make this so much faster," Daniel smiled, closing the door and following her.

They walked back to the room where they had left the others just as the others began to say words that matched each other's, Arturia translating to tell Daniel they were going to bed. Sakura walked over, speaking briefly with Arturia before turning and walking away as well, Lancer following.

"She said we can pick a room," Arturia said. "There's enough for everyone, so we just need to find an empty one."

Daniel nodded and they walked out of the room, walking down a hallway, glancing in each room and seeing the others in them, unpacking. Then, finally, they found and empty one and walked in, Arturia sliding the door closed as Daniel set his pack against the wall, looking around. They had one bed big enough for two people to sleep comfortably, even if they hated each other, a leather reading chair, a desk with a wheeled chair sitting in front of it, a book shelf with several spell books and history books, and a bathroom connected to their room. He walked into the bathroom, smirking. There was a second door on the other side, meaning they had to share with whoever was over there. He knocked and after a minute the door opened, Jeanne peaking her head through before opening the door, surveying the obvious problem.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to keep both doors closed and knock before we enter," Jeanne suggested.

"Probably," Daniel nodded. "Sorry in advance if anything happens."

Jeanne raised an eyebrow but nodded, closing her door, Daniel doing the same.

"Who're we sharing with?" Arturia asked.

"Jeanne, Astolfo, and Sieg," Daniel said. "Make sure you knock before entering."

Arturia nodded, sitting on the bed, sighing. "Are you ready?"

Daniel nodded as well, Arturia shifting back and turning, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Daniel sat down opposite her, mirroring her position and closing his eyes, reaching out with his mind. He found her mind easily, taking a breath before delving into it. Sure enough, memories assaulted him instantly. Merlin's spell-gone-wrong turning Arturia into a pseudo-male, basically meaning it gave her male genitalia, Arturia screaming at Merlin to fix it, Morgana casting a spell on Arturia to seduce her, the following night.

Daniel forced his mental probe away from the memories, all of those memories having seared themselves into his mind in under a second. If nothing else, at least he now understood in agonizingly unwanted detail exactly how Mordred was conceived. He searched through her mind as carefully as he could, trying desperately to avoid any memories. He did find a couple, like one of Arturia killing a dragon, one of Arturia fighting with a sword that was different from Excalibur, though that he could sense a stronger connection to Arturia with, even if it _was_ a memory, and then the memory of Arturia's death. Finally, he found himself at the section of her mind that was in charge of remembering languages. The moment he connected his own mind to it, his head throbbed painfully. Daniel gritted his teeth, letting the knowledge flow as smoothly as possible. However, in order to do so, he had to stop suppressing his own memories. The first to replay was Arturia's own memory of dying, the image freezing on a heavily wounded Arturia more than a couple of times. Then, finally, that faded and Daniel's own memories began to play.

First, was the night he lost his family. He had been watching TV while playing with his toys back when he was five. He heard glass break followed by his mother screaming. He stood, walking toward the sound in time to enter the kitchen, seeing his mother clutching his sister's lifeless body. Then, the mage that had killed his sister used a spell to remove his mother's head, which bounced and rolled across the kitchen floor to him. Then, the mage left as police sirens wailed outside. The police had found him sitting on the kitchen floor, hugging his mother's severed head and staring at their bodies.

The next memory was of spending time with an attractive blonde. They weren't doing anything massively incriminating, simply sitting in a field and talking, but with the memory came the ghost of his feelings for her. Arturia figured this must be Melanie. That memory faded quickly, being replaced by flashes of his time around her. As they began to play, Arturia felt a small warmth begin to grow in her chest, caused by the faintest hint of emotions that he couldn't fully suppress tied to the images. She couldn't place it, but before more than a few images had played, he finished learning all the languages she knew, quickly yet carefully retracting from her mind. However, just before he could, he bumped into a memory and both of them began to play their matching one. Their day at the beach. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to react to catch it before it began to play. He was able to watch her memory, finding her splitting her time between enjoying her first real trip to the beach and diligently watching for enemy Servants, which was exactly what he would have expected. She, on the other hand, got to see just how much he had been watching her, while they were at the beach, and got to feel exactly how much he had enjoyed her bathing suit.

Finally, Daniel managed to escape her mind without setting off any more memories for either of them, his face as red as a tomato while Arturia had the barest hint of a smile on her lips and one eyebrow nearly reaching her hairline. Daniel silently, turned, slipping under the blankets while facing away from her and closing his eyes, trying to will himself to sleep. After a couple of seconds, he felt her climb under the covers as well, then felt her hand on his shoulder. After a moment of resistance, he allowed her to roll him onto his back before she sat up, allowing the blanket to fall down behind her, exposing her bikini to him as she straddled his legs just above the knee. Daniel felt his breath catch in his throat, trying desperately to look away but unable to. His eyes drifted up her body to her face, seeing a small blush and a smile. He swallowed hard, trying desperately to do anything but lay there like a mute fool, which he was.

"What-"

She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. His eyes widened slightly at the reaction, and she smiled, tapping a finger against the side of her head. He hesitated. He really didn't want her sensing just how scrambled his mind was, or what kind of effect she was having on him, let along how strong of one. But, finally, he reached out with his mind, finding hers and linking them, feeling an instantaneous calm sweep him, before the calmness was somehow combined with nervousness in equal measure, both somehow managing to strengthen the other. He swallowed hard, staring at her in confusion and she smiled. His chest warmed as she did, his mind calming slightly and he felt a nearly electric buzz of joy flash across their link. Finally, he managed to get his thoughts together enough to communicate.

 _"What are you doing?"_ he thought.

She smiled, taking his hands in hers, trailing her thumbs across the backs of his hands for a moment before setting his hands on her hips. His eyes shot wide open, a range of emotions passing to her through the link and she laughed quietly, his mind stilling at the sound.

 _I must be dreaming,_ he thought, completely having forgotten the link in his confusion.

She laughed again, shaking her head.

 _"Are you...you don't really mean..."_

Even in a telepathic conversation he couldn't finish his own sentences, his embarrassment and nervousness, as well as hope, all passing through their link.

Arturia smiled. _"I mean it. I'm yours, Daniel. I love you."_

Daniel's heart soared instantly, only to crash back down as his self-loathing side fought against his happiness. _"It's just because of my telepathy. I accidentally linked our minds without realizing it and now you're mistaking my feelings for yours."_

Arturia closed her eyes and a memory began to play. Him, asleep in a bed. He couldn't be sure where or when it was, but with it came a tidal wave of emotions from longing, to sadness, to joy. He watched as Arturia sat on the bed, gently stroking the sleeping Daniel's cheek before bending down, placing a light kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you for saving me," the memory of Arturia whispered. "I wish we could go back to the beach. I wish we could spend all day laying in the sun together, just the two of us. I found a new wish. I'll probably never be able to tell you it. After all, you're my Master. It's inappropriate. And when this war's over, we'll never see each other again. Especially if Rin and Shiro go through with their plan to destroy it. But still. At least for now, I can have this."

The memory faded and Arturia opened her eyes, tears forming in them as she watched Daniel's own leak out of the corner of his eyes. That's right. He had never even thought about what would happen to the Heroic Spirits if the thing keeping them in that world was destroyed.

 _"No,"_ he thought. _"If that's what's going to happen, I'm not letting them destroy it."_

Arturia smiled, her tears beginning to leak from her eyes as well as she shook her head, a quiet half-laugh-half-sob escaping.

 _"The wars have to end,"_ Arturia said.

 _"Fuck with the wars! I don't want to lose you!"_ he thought, Arturia smiling sadly, shaking her head.

All of the emotions he felt, he also felt from Arturia. The difference was that there was a small sense of peace from her as well. She closed her eyes for a second, and suddenly the world around them began to fade, becoming the beach again, the blankets and sheet that were on the bed now on the ground. It even felt like he was lying on a beach. The warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, the solid ground. He could hear and see the waves, and a certain tranquility fell over him, Arturia, smiling down at him, her eyes still having tears in them. Finally, he sat up, hands leaving her thighs to cup her face, gently wiping away her tears before he kissed her. From the moment their lips met, their link was complete. Memories, emotions, identity. All were one. There were no secrets. There were no doubts. There was no longer Arturia Pendragon or Daniel Johnson. The two had become one. One mind. One heartbeat. Every feeling was shared. Every ounce of love, of fear, of anxiety, and of joy. Every kiss. Every touch. Every ache. Every pleasure. Everything. They felt it all as one.

Even as they had to pull away from the kiss to breathe, their link remained. And then, within seconds, they were together again. His hands traveled down from her face, cupping her breasts instead as she moaned into his mouth, her own hands clutching at his back. He massaged her breasts slowly, kneading the perfect mounds of flesh hidden behind the very thin fabric of her top. After a moment, he pulled away from the kiss, moving down to the base of her neck, just over her pulse point. She arched her back, one hand managing to cover her mouth in order to silence a moan.

 _"I should probably warn you that this is my first time."_ Daniel said from somewhere in the shared mind they had formed, not letting up for even an instant at trying to bring her pleasure.

 _"It's my first as well,"_ Arturia said, one hand having moved to the back of his head, tangling in his hair as though worried he'd try to leave her.

Daniel's hands slipped under her bikini top, cupping her bare breasts and earning a moan, then, he slipped the top up, moving down to take one of her nipples into his mouth, suckling on it gently, Arturia's hips rocking against him slightly as her hands clutched at his head. His hands reached back, untying the bow at the back of her top, pulling it up over her head and casting it aside. Then, his hands returned to her breasts, one hand teasing and toying with the nipple he had lust been suckling as he moved to the other side, his free hand moving down to her thigh, massaging it for a moment before moving back to her rear, massaging her firm, soft, perfectly sized rump. As a result, her hips began to rock a little harder against him, Daniel pressing back against her, earning an appreciative moan. After several seconds, he released her nipple, his hand moving back up to her breast as he moved back up to kiss her, his other hand sliding down her perfectly smooth stomach to the sacred space where her legs joined, fingers pressing against the smooth fabric of her panties.

Arturia moaned loudly, rolling her hips against his finger, body trembling in need as he began to stroke her most sacred place through the fabric. Waves of pleasure so powerful and so intoxicating flooded through their shared mind that it felt like they were drowning. Daniel began to press harder, rubbing faster, before finally stopping, turning them and laying Arturia on the bed, hands untying the bows on her hips and slipping the fabric off, leaving her lying before him, exposed in all her divine beauty. He sat up, allowing his eyes to soak up the sight before him for several seconds before bending down again, kissing her before slowly beginning to travel down her neck with tiny kisses and licks, Arturia squirming beneath him as his hand returned to its previous activities, this time with no cloth there to hide how slick and ready she was. As his lips reached her breasts, he paused, taking the time to worship every centimeter of her breasts, and extra time for each nipple, before continuing, Arturia's breathing alternating between borderline panting and being interrupted by moans.

As Daniel was kissing his way down her stomach, his tongue dipped into her navel, earning a gasp that turned into a moan. Then, he finally reached his goal, Arturia's back arching off the bed as her thighs clamped down on his head the moment he trailed his tongue through her slit. He continued to drag his tongue up and down through it, spelling the alphabet, then the Russian one, then Japanese, then the Greek one, then drawing spell symbols, all the while making sure that most of the contact was with the sensitive ball of nerves at the top. Below that, his hand finally pushed a finger into Arturia, earning a cry of pleasure from her. He began to slide it out and push it back in in rhythm with her hips rolling, Arturia forcing her thighs to loosen their grip on his head enough for him to continue to taste of her nectar.

The waves of pleasure began to wipe all other thought in their mind away, pressure building inside of Arturia. Daniel began to speed up, sensing Arturia's desperation for release as his own. Arturia's cries grew to a crescendo, but just as she was seconds away, Daniel pulled back, Arturia's eyes flying open as she groaned a complaint about the sudden lack of contact. Daniel merely reached up, kissing her, their mind, which was already wheeling from being so close yet denied release, was sent spinning even faster as they shared her taste. Then, Daniel sat up, pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it off to the side before his pants and underwear quickly followed. Then, before he could react, Arturia had pinned him to the bed, kissing him as she held him down, pressing her soaked slit to the underside of his member, pressing it flat against his stomach and beginning to grind along the length of it, moaning into his mouth as she did, earning several moans from him in return. Finally, she lifted up, lining herself up and slowly lowering herself onto him.

Both moaned as he spread her open, Arturia once again teetering on the brink of release, just from him entering. Finally, he reached her barrier and she stopped, taking a breath while he sat up, kissing her.

 _"This is enough,"_ Daniel thought.

 _"No. I need to give you everything."_

And with that, Arturia lifted up, slamming back down and forcing him through her hymen instantly. Pair seared through their mind, but only for a moment before it was swept away as Arturia was finally sent over the edge. Pleasure tore through their mind like a tsunami, wiping away all thought, and all reality, leaving behind only a warm blanket of euphoria. Her insides convulsed around him as her back arched and she cried out in pleasure, Daniel reaching down and rubbing her clit in tiny, rapid circles, sending her even higher. Then, after several seconds as she reached the absolute peak of her orgasm, he rolled them over and began to move, pulling out and thrusting back in, Arturia crying out with each thrust, being sent back up to her peak each time he hilted himself in her. He moved slowly at first, making sure she felt no pain before speeding up, using more force as he thrust into her. He reached down, kissing her and muffling her cries of pleasure.

She began to rock her hips up against him with each thrust, finally, slowly making her way back down from her peak, even as she felt pressure beginning to build again. Daniel pulled back from the kiss, one hand still working her clit as he slammed into her, Saber crying out yet again. Then, she rolled them over again, beginning to raise and drop her hips rapidly on his member. Both reached out, their hands clasping, fingers interlocking and Arturia used his hands for leverage, speeding up and adding more force to her movements as she impaled herself again and again on him. She began to pick up the speed still more until she was bottoming out on his lap almost twice a second. Both felt their ends approaching rapidly. And Daniel sat up, kissing her, hands still interlocked with her own. He pulled back, groaning as he held back. For a moment, he considered asking a question that he knew he should ask, but before he could even begin, he sensed her answer. He lay back, thrusting up into her in time with her drops, Arturia crying out as pleasure once again tore through their mind, ceasing all thought as her body arched, his own body jerking upward as hard as it could, his hands pulling her tight against himself, his seed flooding her as her insides convulsed around him. After a moment, he pulled back, slamming back into her and sending a fresh wave into her, then repeated, sending a third. Then, some small amount of though returned. He wanted more. Needed more. So did she. He lifted her off of himself, slipping out from under her and quickly but gently setting her upper body on the bed, kneeling behind her and pushing back into her, Arturia moaning loudly as he did.

He began to thrust again, groaning as their respective puzzle pieces ached from use, yet it simply spired them on, Arturia slamming back against him in time with his thrusts, lifting herself up before her body locked up, white-hot pleasure suddenly spiking through their mind. He pulled out, repeating his thrust and the pleasure again crashed into them. He began to thrust again and again, feeling the underside of his member pressing into the wall of her tunnel, hitting into a tiny knot partway in before bottoming out. Each repeated connection with that spot sent Arturia shooting higher and higher. His hand reached around under her, finding her other ball of nerves and rubbing it quickly. Arturia held a pillow to her face, screaming as white-hot jolts of electricity shot through her, liquid fire flooding through her veins. The pressure was there again, stronger than before, and more pronounced. Demanding to be noticed, and demanding to be released. Daniel began to thrust faster, angling himself to press into the spot harder. Arturia's hips bucked back against him more and more urgently, her cries coming more desperate by the second.

Then, it was like a damn broke. All feeling stopped except for an all-encompassing, burning, agonizing pleasure tearing through them, both physically and through their mind. It burned horribly, and yet it was the greatest pleasure either had ever felt. Euphoria blanketed everything, the pleasure being the only thing to shine through it. They slowly began to become aware of other things, even as the pleasure and euphoria remained, sort of like hindsight. First, was of Arturia's essence spraying out of her with each thrust, squirting like a fountain. Next was of Daniel's own juices mixing with it, flooding her insides as all of the excess was ejected along with Arturia's own. Then, Daniel and Arturia fell to the side, still joined but to exhausted to move, both panting. Slowly, the pleasure began to fade away, leaving an unbearable yet wonderful ache in its place. Daniel slipped out of Arturia and she rolled over, head landing on his shoulder, legs intertwining with his as one hand rested on his chest in front of her face, over his heart, the other lacing its fingers with his. That euphoric feeling remained where it was, refusing to move as time passed, and the ache grew more pronounced until it was hard for Arturia to even move her legs, yet was indescribably amazing. Satisfied, was probably the closest thing they could think of. Completely satisfied.

 _"Ai shiteru yo,"_ Daniel thought, Arturia staring up at him, tears in her eyes, despite already knowing. "I love you."

"I love you too," Arturia smiled. _"Thank you for allowing me to have my wish."_

Daniel smiled, kissing her, before setting his head back down, closing his eyes and allowing the euphoria still flooding their mind to lull him to sleep, Arturia doing the same.

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Leave a review. **_A.N.: So, I don't actually speak Japanese, but I did some research and found several sources that said that that's how you say "I love you" with the strongest romantic feelings in Japanese. Not sure about the grammar of it, so anyone who speaks fluent Japanese, if I put the wrong thing, or missed something, please let me know. Like I said, I wanted the strongest possible romantic meaning of "I love you." Thanks in advance for any help you give._**


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

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Causing Trouble

Daniel sighed as his eyes forced themselves open despite his protests. At the same moment, he felt part of his mind was fogged, but clearing. He blinked, confused for a moment before looking down at Arturia, asleep on his chest, nude and with a blissful smile on her face. His eyes widened as he remembered what had happened, Arturia's smile widening and Daniel's chest warmed, a smile growing on his own face too. Then, he realized exactly what he was feeling as a fogged part of his mind. It was hers. He quickly disconnected from her mind, Arturia frowning slightly, opening her eyes and looking up at him.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Daniel smiled. "I just forgot to end the connection last night."

"That's alright," she smiled. "I liked that feeling."

"So did I," Daniel smiled. "But it's dangerous to stay that way for so long. The mage that taught me to use telepathy said that when you connect like that with someone, there's a risk of losing yourself. Of losing sense of who the individuals are. Certain parts of your personality might become a part of me, while parts of my personality might become a part of yours. Or in more dangerous cases, we might merge everything, and then get stuck like that. Instead of two people, we'd be one person with two bodies, unable to differentiate between ourselves, or even know there was a difference to begin with."

A thought occurred to him. If it was Arturia, would it really be that bad? Maybe the being stuck as one being.

"Did anything happen yet?" Arturia asked.

"I don't think so," Daniel said. "But it can be hard to tell."

Arturia smiled, reaching up and kissing him, before pushing herself up, stretching, Daniel blushing slightly and looking away. "You're allowed to look, you know."

Daniel smiled, blushing a little more as Arturia lay back down on top of him, grimacing.

"I hope we don't have to do any fighting for the next couple days," Arturia smiled. "I'm so sore I don't know if I'd be able to fight properly."

Daniel smiled, kissing her. "I'll protect you."

She smiled, reaching up, giving him a slower, lingering kiss before pulling back. "I need to shower. Oh, and the others probably heard, so be ready for the jokes."

Daniel blushed profusely as he realized she was right. They had made no effort to stay quiet, so there was no doubt that the entire house knew what had happened. A sense of pride formed in his chest and he smiled, shrugging. He didn't need to be embarrassed. It wasn't like he was ashamed of it. Arturia smiled, seeming to know how he felt, kissing him again before finally groaning and forcing herself to her feet. He sighed, pushing himself up as well and stretching as Arturia knocked.

"Just a moment!" Jeanne's voice said. "I'm sure you need a shower but you'll have to wait."

Daniel froze for a moment, blushing, before flopping back on the bed, groaning. Arturia grinned back at him for his reaction.

"Shiro and Archer are going to make my life hell," Daniel groaned.

"How could you forget Iskandar and Lancer?" Arturia asked, grinning.

Daniel released a dramatic sobbing groan before sighing and rolling forward, landing in a push-up position and beginning to exercise. Arturia watched him, smiling. After a couple of minutes, he stood, twisting, several vertebrae popping, then twisted the other way with a similar result. Just as he did, Jeanne told them that they could enter. Daniel tossed Arturia a towel and Arturia wrapped it around herself, opening the door a tiny bit and peeking in, making sure it was clear before opening it, removing the towel and looking back at him.

"Coming?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

Daniel blushed but smiled as well, grabbing his own towel and following her into the bathroom. They set their towels on either side of the sink and stepped into the shower, turning it on and adjusting the temperature until it was warm without being hot. Arturia turned to Daniel, motioning for him to turn around and began to lather soap onto his body, Daniel blushing slightly as she did. After a few moments, she reached his manhood, stroking him several times, getting him hard before releasing him and stepping back. He turned to her, scowling, yet with a blush that ruined his otherwise convincing expression. She smiled, holding out the soap bottle as the water rinsed the soap off of him. He put the soap on his hands and began to lather it onto her as well, smirking as she turned away from him so he could get her back. He grinned. She was definitely too trusting that he wasn't about to get revenge for her teasing. He finished her back and reached around, beginning to massage the soap into her breasts, Arturia moaning too quietly to make it through the walls, leaning back against him. Then, he left her breasts, getting her smooth stomach, then her toned legs. Finally, he worked his way back up her inner thighs, making sure the soap had long since washed off his hands before he began to run his finger through her slit, Arturia biting back a moan, steadying herself on the wall of he shower. He gently slid two fingers into her, beginning to thrust them quickly and Arturia began to tremble. Then, he pulled them out and Arturia glared back at him, also sporting a contradictory blush. As he stood, she turned, stepping forward and kissing him, beginning to stroke him again.

"I thought you were sore," Daniel smiled.

"I am," Arturia said. "But I don't care."

She kissed him again and he smiled, wrapping his arms under her legs and turning, pressing her against the wall on their room's side before gently lowering her onto himself, kissing her to muffle her moan. He reached out, joining their minds once again as he began to thrust into her, Arturia rolling her hips against him, both kissing the other to silence themselves. About twenty minutes later, they stepped out of the shower, having cleaned themselves up in order to avoid risking a third round, and dried themselves off. They both brushed their teeth and Arturia styled her hair into its usual braid before her suit appeared on her in a flash of light, Daniel shaking his head, grinning.

"Lucky," Daniel smirked, pulling his pants on, then pulling a black tee-shirt on. "It takes me so long to get dressed." He turned to her, having finished in barely three minutes and she laughed.

"Oh yes, that took you _so_ long," Arturia smiled. "I almost decided to leave you, you kept me waiting so long."

He grinned, shaking his head as his heart soared at her saying their were together, even if she had meant leaving the room. He slipped his hand into hers, the two of them walking out the door and to the living room, arriving to a chorus of cheers and whistles, that had both of their faces glowing red in an instant.

"So Saber's a screamer," Shiro grinned. "Didn't see that coming."

"I don't know how you'd know through all the noise _you_ were making," Lancer smirked, Shiro blushing.

Daniel caught movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced to the side, seeing Sakura staring sadly at the floor. He felt bad for her. She obviously cared about Shiro deeply.

"Really, though, did you have to be so loud?" Astolfo asked, grinning. "Jesus, some of us were trying to sleep, not trying to wake up the entire city with our moans."

"He's right, you two were ridiculous," Rin grinned.

"You were no better!" Waver accused. "Jeez, the two of you were _both_ screaming almost as loud as Saber was."

Rin and Shiro both turned scarlet as several of the others laughed and Iskandar grinned, kneeling and leaning in to whisper to Daniel.

"Be careful or we may need to fight later," Iskandar said. "There can only be _one_ king of conquerers."

Daniel's eyes flew open and he blushed even brighter. "Don't we have more important things to discuss?"

"Was he really that impressive?" Rin asked, ignoring Daniel.

Arturia turned scarlet.

"Damn," Rin snorted. "If that's how it is, I'm impressed you're still standing."

"Especially after your shower this morning," Jeanne added, both turning an even darker red as everyone laughed or "Ooo"ed.

"Seriously, I feel like there are other things to discuss," Daniel said.

"Alright, give the child a break," Iskandar said.

"I'm not a child!" Daniel said.

"Obviously, but we're not supposed to talk about that anymore," Sieg said, surprising everyone, serving to make them laugh all the harder for it, and Daniel blush even darker.

"Even Sieg!" Shiro managed to force out as he clutched his stomach, howling with laughter.

Daniel scowled at him, swiping a hand up, a barrier growing out of the ground under Shiro's chair's front legs, tipping him backward and making him crash to the ground, the others all howling with laughter at him as he blushed. Daniel let his barrier fade and sat down, Arturia sitting him his lap, arms around him.

"Alright, alright," Jeanne finally said. "Daniel's right, we do need to discuss our plan. How do we go about recruiting, and how do we track down our enemies?"

"For recruiting purposes, we can talk to a Servant when we meet them," Rin said. "For tracking purposes, I know a handful of spells that can probably help locate them."

"We could just have three Masters and Servants group together," Lancer said. "The resulting concentration of mana would draw pretty much every Servant around in."

"That would bring in even more," Rin said. "That's a last resort. Besides, I think we should take some time for Shiro to train, and Saber to recover."

Arturia and Daniel blushed but the others carried on, fortunately. After a couple of minutes, it was decided that they would spend the day relaxing and familiarizing Daniel with the area, then start trying to find Servants to recruit later. With that decided, Shiro announced he was going back to bed and left the room, Rin sighing and following, saying she was going to force him to cook breakfast first. Waver and Iskandar then agreed to play some game and headed back to their room. The others decided to head out and explore. Daniel and Arturia left for the center of town, where it would be least likely for someone to attack them, barring a few Servants who simply didn't care.

"God this city is so much bigger than my hometown," Daniel breathed, taking in the skyscrapers around them and the flood of people everywhere.

"Yes it is," Arturia agreed. "I prefer something small like your home. Ironically people tend to be closer in smaller towns."

"Agreed," Daniel snorted, looking around. "No one here even acknowledges the others' existence."

"I bet they would if a Servant attacked, though," Arturia said.

"Yes, well, explosions tend to have that effect on people," Daniel snorted, spotting a small "western-style" diner. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Arturia smiled.

They walked over to the diner and a waiter walked over to their table within a couple of minutes.

"How may I order you drink?" the man asked in english.

"I'll have a glass of water please," Daniel said in Japanese.

"And I'll have tea please," Arturia smiled, the water sighing in relief, nodding and walking away.

"I'm so glad I understand Japanese now," Daniel said.

Arturia smiled and they sat in silence. As they did, the hairs on the back of Daniel's neck suddenly stood on end. He looked to his right, seeing a man in a cloak standing across the road watching them. He stared at him for several seconds before the man raised a hand, pointing at the ground. Daniel instantly lunged across the table, grabbing Arturia.

"What-" she began but just as he threw them both sideways, the wall beside their table exploded inward, several people screaming and sprinting out of the diner.

Daniel's ears were ringing and he was disoriented. He reached out Arturia's mind. _"Are you alright?"_

 _"I'm okay,"_ she responded, both picking themselves up off of the ground, looking outside to see people staring and recording on their phones.

Standing in the hole in the wall was a skeleton with a shark's jaws in place of a skull, complete with dozens of jagged teeth. Arturia reached out, preparing to summon her sword but Daniel grabbed her hand, turning and running for the door.

"We can't let them see us fighting them," Daniel said.

"Them?" Arturia asked, several more creatures suddenly bursting through the roof and landing on the diner's bar, one knocking the cash register tot he ground.

Daniel and Arturia sprinted out of the diner, Daniel firing a barrier bullet through one of the creatures, the creature flying backward into the wall, dispersing into dark smoke as soon as it hit. The others all burst out of the building, chasing them, Arturia letting out a convincing scream as they ran. A pair of men stepped forward to try and stop the creatures, one firing a pistol at them, but the creatures bull rushed them, bashing them out of the way in pursuit of their targets. Daniel and Arturia ducked down a back alley, getting out of sight of the public then turning as more and more of the creatures began to grow. Arturia summoned her sword as the creatures charged, Daniel firing barrier bullets into them and Arturia slashing anything he missed. After several minutes, he pulled out his hilt, forming its blade and slashing a creature, he and Arturia backing away from them. Then, Arturia spun just as Daniel slashed a pair of the creatures. He glanced back, seeing Arturia struggling to out-muscle a man with blonde hair brushed back with a lock falling over his left eye, an orange sash with a long strip hanging behind him, a silver cuirass, silver and black gauntlets, black pants, and silver boots with a spear in his hand that had a pair of blades sticking out sideways from the base of the spearhead.

Daniel turned back to the creatures, slashing one and releasing his sword, blasting them rapidly, forcing them back before grabbing the handle and extending his blade again, turning just as Arturia stepped to the side, wincing as her legs gave out. She dropped below a stab as a result, but when the Servant spun the staff, she was slow to react to the blade flashing around at her. Daniel wasn't. He stepped in front of her, blocking the blade and the man stared at him before grinning.

"Look at that!" He shouted, obviously trying to make his Master hear him. "A Master that actually fights alongside his Servant!" He stepped back, setting his spear beside himself, smiling. "I like you already kid. And I assume you're the one responsible for your lovely Servant's trouble staying on her feet."

Daniel and Arturia blushed.

"Thought so," the man snorted. "I wish I could let the two of you live. But I'm under orders via Command Seal to kill the both of you." He looked past Daniel to where the creatures were pounding at the barrier Daniel had erected, barely making any marks on it. "Nice barrier. I'll offer you some help. My name's Achilles, and my left ankle is my only weak point. I'm Rider Class, by the way."

"Funny," Daniel said. "So are they."

Achilles turned, staring at Astolfo and Iskandar, Sieg standing beside Astolfo with his sword drawn, Waver on Iskandar's other side, a ball of mercury hovering over his left hand.

"We're not letting you kill either of them," Astolfo said.

"I see," Achilles smiled. "So you're here, are you, Astolfo?"

"You know each other?" Daniel asked.

"All Heroic Spirits reside in the same realm between battles," Astolfo said. "Most don't associate with each other. A few, like myself and Achilles, rain against each other to pass the time. I've heard rumors that a few actually continued relationships started before their deaths."

"I see," Daniel nodded. "Anyway, I understand you have to fight, Achilles, and I'd prefer not to kill you. You'd be very helpful in destroying the Holy Grail. But if you try to hurt her, you'll die."

"Destroy the grail?" Achilles blinked before smiling. "You don't say? You're in luck. My Master wants to keep me and has ordered my retreat for now. Good luck destroying the grail. There're a lot that'll try to stop you."

And with that, he disappeared.

"Really now, you two," Astolfo said. "Can't you go anywhere without causing trouble?"

"Evidently not," Daniel said, helping Arturia up. "You alright?"

"Yes, thank you," Arturia smiled before smacking him. "Again you try to fight a Servant."

"I love you too," Daniel smirked.

"Aaww," Astolfo said, Daniel blushing and glaring at him.

"Alright Astolfo," Sieg said. "Easy on the-"

He spun, drawing his sword again and splitting skeletal creature in one smooth stroke. Daniel and Arturia turned back to the barrier but those creatures were gone. Daniel let the barrier fade and they turned back to the horde of skeletal monsters forming in the street, which was devoid of any people, now. Daniel extended his blade again, readying himself as Arturia did the same beside him.

"Now what?" Daniel asked, eyes scanning the creatures. "They seem different."

"Their mana's darker," Waver said. "This may be a problem."

"There's so many," Astolfo groaned, resting his lance on his shoulder. "This is going to be exhausting.

"We need to find the summoner," Daniel said.

"And here I am," a voice said from above, all of them looking up and seeing a woman with a purple dress under a black cloak with the hood up to hide her face, and a purple cape over it. Her cloak spread open, glowing seals inside controlling it, forming it into a pair of large bat wings, and she held a staff with a basketball sized circle on top of a baseball sized one on the end, a smaller circle inside of the biggest, attached to the top right part.

"You!" Arturia snarled.

"Hello there Saber," the woman smirked. "What a _pleasure_ to see you again."

Daniel stepped protectively in front of Arturia, remembering from when they were connected exactly who was floating above them. "Medea. I'll warn you now. If you don't leave, I'll kill you."

"Well, I'm not leaving without, at the very least, my favorite Servant," Medea smirked. "So if you would be so kind as to return her to me, I'll be on my way and you will all live."

"Ranged attacks on her only," Daniel snarled. "Her Noble Phantasm is a dagger that breaks a Servant's Contract with its current Master, and then seals one with her, effectively making them _her_ Servants."

"I take it she's done that to Saber before?" Waver guessed.

"Yes," Daniel snarled. "And her method of trying to force Saber to follow her orders willingly...We're not recruiting Medea. We're just going to kill her. Painfully, if at all possible."

"Understood," Iskandar nodded. "Since it's a ranged fight at best, we'll need to be careful."

"She's got very powerful magic," Arturia said. "When we fought her before, she was basically as strong as any Master was."

"And here we are with no Archers," Astolfo said.

"No more stalling," Daniel said. "Let's go!"

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Leave a review. _**A.N.: I need a pairing suggestion for Sakura.**_


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters.

 _ **To the Guest that reviewed: ****"So despite the fact Artoria knows Shirou she has no trouble f*** a guy she met days ago? If this is Fate Route Shirou then end this story now. If this is UBW Shirou then he and** **Saber** **still had deep feelings for each other. If this is somehow HF Shirou then you should delete your account. Hopefully you'll apologise to your reading by having Gilgamesh (who would slap Shirou and Archer easily) torture and kill your Master. About your stupid question, why don't you put her with...oh I don't know, Shirou? You know, the guy who kept her from mentally breaking and becoming the Anti-Christ? No thats stupid, have your OC get another girl, because feeling sorry Everything Shirou's done for Sakura"** _I would like to reiterate, that all I've got to go off of for the Fate series is Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, and Fate/Apocrypha. I will be using the wiki to find some of the stronger Servants, or at least ones that I want to use, but I don't know the Stay Night route or the HF route. I've never played the games, never watched the animes for those two, actually didn't know they even existed until I started this chapter and happened to see them online. I also have no idea what you mean by becoming the anti-christ. So while I appreciate you reviewing, I would also appreciate it if you would never do it again. If you don't like the story, don't read it. And if you're only going to post flames, don't post them. I don't need your input anyway. I can get it from people who actually appreciate the story.

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Custody Battle

Daniel spun, slashing the skeletal creatures around himself before raising his arm, firing several barriers at Medea, the Servant spinning and flipping out of the way of each, dagger glinting in her left hand as she swung her staff, a glowing purple seal forming in front of her, a beam of purple mana shooting out of it at him. Before it could hit, Arturia stepped in front of him, blocking the blast with the flat of her blade, grunting at the impact. Daniel spun, slashing more skeletal creatures before firing at Medea again, forcing her to end the blast and dodge. Arturia slashed, clearing a space ahead of them and Iskandar and Astolfo both landed there, clearing a wider space.

"We need to find Archer," Iskandar said.

"Which means we need a way out of here," Daniel said.

Just then, a bolt of lightning hit the ground off to the side, a chariot appearing amidst the disintegrating familiars. Iskandar and Waver sprinted to it, jumping on along with Sieg as Astolfo whistled, then jumped onto a skeletal creature's head and leapt into the air. Just as he began to fall, a hippogriff shot out from between two buildings, plowing through the creatures and catching him, taking off. Daniel and Arturia began to sprint toward the chariot, but Medea turned to it, Iskandar flicking the reins and only barely escaping the blast. Daniel swore, forming a barrier on the ground in front of them and when they stepped on, restraints grabbed their feet before it shot into motion, blasting through the creatures in its rush to take off, rising out of the horde as it did. Daniel looked back, seeing Medea's creatures vanish and Medea streak after them, firing.

"Hang on tight!" Daniel said, forming handles and grabbing on, Arturia doing the same.

Then, the barrier flipped, Medea's shot streaking past them. Daniel grit his teeth with the strain of controlling his barrier with such precise control. Medea fired twice more, Daniel barely managing to slip between them, making sure the blasts were closer to him than Arturia. Behind him, Medea cackled.

"Impressive flying, but how long can you last?" Medea asked.

Daniel glanced back, seeing all nine of her glowing purple seals fire a blast. He grit his teeth, flipping the barrier sideways and shooting around a turn that would have broken any airplane in half, shooting down a back alley just as the corner of the building exploded. He and Arturia stayed flat against the barrier until they shot out the far side, Daniel flipping the barrier again and shooting down the city only for Medea to appear in front of them, slashing the dagger at Arturia. Daniel swore, letting go of the barrier and grabbing Arturia, flipping the barrier in front of them and leaping off of it, the barrier shattering against Medea but throwing her as if she had been hit by a train. As they fell, Arturia wrapped her arms around him, flipping and landing on her feet, setting him on his as Medea's familiars rose around them again, both of them readying their swords instantly, Daniel breathing hard now.

"I was hoping to shake her off," Daniel growled. "Or maybe that the barrier would knock her out."

"No such luck," Arturia said. "I could use my Noble Phantasm on her."

"No," Daniel said. "We have to hold out until the others find Archer. He can fight her from far away if we can, but for now we just need to hold out. If we block her dagger, does that block her dagger's power?"

"Yes," Arturia said. "But if she cuts either of us, she'll steal the contract."

"Understood," Daniel nodded, slashing his side of the first wave, Arturia slashing the other side. "I guess we're done being allowed to chat."

Arturia nodded and both lunged, slashing several creatures before Daniel jumped backward to the center of the gap, firing several barriers at Medea, who easily avoided them, firing a blast at him. He dove out of the way, standing and forming a sphere of wind in his hand, slamming it into a creature. It exploded into a massive blast of wind magic instantly, blowing half a dozen of the creatures apart before spinning, slashing two that had moved to flank him. He glanced at Medea just as she flew down at Arturia. He formed a barrier in her way and she crashed face first into it, flipping backward and crashing down in the middle of her familiars. Daniel spun, slashing the creatures around him before turning, sprinting at Arturia. Just as he reached her, Medea burst out of the familiars to Arturia's right, slashing. Daniel stepped into the way, managing to block the dagger with his sword and grit his teeth, barely holding it back.

"Impressive," Medea grinned, a glowing seal appearing directly in front of his face.

Arturia's sword split the seal in half, making it fade before she slashed at Medea, making her leap backward, grinning wickedly.

"Come now, Arturia, is that really any way to treat your once and future Master?" Medea asked.

"You will never be my Master!" Arturia shouted, slashing several creatures without looking.

Daniel knelt, placing a hand on the ground and sending a barrier spike shooting out of the ground and three dozens of the creatures, gritting his teeth as he let the barriers shatter and stood, sighing. Medea shouted in anger, forming nine seals again and firing at Daniel and Arturia rapidly. Both began to dodge them just before Medea appeared in front of Arturia, dagger falling. Daniel formed a barrier between them, the dagger being knocked from Medea's hand as it hit the barrier and a seal swung around, blasting Daniel, launching him into a building. He hit hard, his head swimming as he hit the ground and Arturia sprinted past Medea toward him, Medea scrambling to her dagger and flying after Arturia.

 _"Behind you!"_ Daniel shouted into her mind.

Arturia spun, slashing the dagger aside only for Medea to grin, turning into purple mana and fading, another Medea appearing behind Arturia, dagger already in motion. Daniel struggled to create a barrier but couldn't focus enough. Then, an arrow buried itself in Medea's hip through her forearm, halting her stab and making her drop the knife, screaming in agony. Arturia spun, slashing a group of creatures that was about to kill Daniel and helped him up, looking around at the rapidly growing sea of creatures as the arrow faded, Medea's wound sealing as she picked up her dagger, glaring at them.

"No matter," Medea said. "Even with Archer there, I'll still get you."

A massive glowing purple seal formed in the street between them and where the arrow had come from, then down the other street and any alleyways leading to the area, sealing them all off.

"These barriers won't fall unless I do, or unless I leave their perimeter," Medea said, an arrow shattering against one, and another shattering above them, a final seal appearing to block the sky just before it could enter. "Now Arturia will be _mine_!"

"Over my dead body," Daniel snarled, pushing off of her and reforming his sword. "Arturia doesn't belong to you. And I'm not letting you touch her. Never again!"

Medea smirked, slamming her staff into the ground, her creatures all charging. Arturia and Daniel began to kill them as fast as they could, but each one they killed was almost instantly replaced. They managed to hold their ground fairly well, managing to keep possession of a half circle about five feet away from the building Daniel had been thrown into, but the circle was beginning to shrink quickly. Daniel formed barriers to try and canalize the creatures into a single entrance, but Medea blasted them instantly, Daniel's mana reserves taking a dangerous plunge as she did. He staggered backward as they shattered and Arturia struggled to hold the creatures at bay. She lost ground rapidly, ending up pressed against the wall beside him, both slashing for all they were worth, trying to hold the creatures back. Suddenly, green lightning began to shoot from a doorway off to the side, blasting through the creatures rapidly, the bolts all tearing around and around the battlefield while staying connected to something inside the building, probably a Mage, by Daniel's guess.

Suddenly, Medea stepped out of the smoke, grinning wickedly and slashing at Arturia, but before the knife could hit, an arrow drilled itself into her back and she screamed, shooting into the air, the barriers all fading as she fled. As the last creature died, the lightning ended and Daniel looked up at the window, seeing Archer standing just inside of it, his bow fading as he nodded to Daniel and Arturia. Then, Daniel turned to the building as a woman with short red hair, the bangs of which were parted around her mechanical golden horn and covered her eyes, a black veil hanging behind her head with a white lace border in front, a pure white wedding dress, high-heeled armored boots, a massive iron ball that looked like it had four detachable armor plates on it, like a shell, attached to the end of a long iron pole, a pair of white bicep-length gloves to go with her dress, a round metal object attached to the left side of her waist, and a pair of metal canister-like objects extending from the sides of her head where her ears should be, each with a length of maroon cloth attached to the end and hanging down as well as a power cable running from the back of the canister to a metal necklace-like object she wore.

"Please tell me you're not looking for a fight," Daniel said.

The servant shook her head, grunting, and turned to look back at the building as a man that Daniel assumed was her Master walked out of it. He had short messy brown hair, blue eyes, glasses, and was wearing a white jacket over a pair of black slacks and a pair of black shoes. He raised his hands and smiled shyly.

"Hello, you don't have to worry, I don't want to fight you," he said. "We overheard you talking to Achilles earlier. Do you really intend to destroy the Holy Grail?"

"We do," Arturia nodded, holding her sword at her side but still ready.

"I see," the man said. "My name's Caules. This is Berserker, my Servant. We...want to help."

Daniel noticed the flash of sadness in Caules's expression. "We?"

"Well, Berserker does," Caules said. "She wants the wars to stop, so that she doesn't have to fight anymore. And, if it's what she wants, then...then so do I."

"I see," Daniel said. "Welcome aboard then. Have any friends with Servants that will be willing to help us?"

"Actually, yes," Caules said. "I'm friends with an Archer's master. And I think I might know where to find a Lancer."

"Excellent," Daniel said. "We'll start with your friend. Archer! Head back and tell the others we're going recruiting. We'll be back later."

Archer nodded once and disappeared. Daniel and Arturia turned back to Caules and he and Berserker led them away from the area, using back alleys to avoid the crowd that began to gather within minutes of their departure.

* * *

Leave a review. **_A.N.: Thank you to whoever gave the non-flame suggestion for Sakura's pairing, however Cu Chulainn is going to be with someone else. I need someone else for Sakura._**


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters. I don't actually remember what ever happened to Avalon. Sorry for posting the wrong document as chapter 11 before. Here's the correct one.

 ** _A.N.: To the guest reviewer that, once again, felt the need to point out parts of my story that don't perfectly align with the cannon universe, I FUCKING KNOW! ! ! BELIEVE ME I'M WELL AWARE THAT MY STORY ISN'T PERFECT AND ISN'T AN EXACT REPLICA OF THE CANNON UNIVERSE! ! ! DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT IS? BECAUSE IT'S A_ FUCKING FANFICTION _! ! ! IT'S_ NOT SUPPOSED _TO BE PERFECTLY CANNON! ! ! IF MY STORY ALIGNED PERFECTLY WITH CANNON, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD BE? THE FUCKING CANNON STORYLINE! ! ! GOD FORBID I WRITE A STORY THAT DOESN'T PERFECTLY ALIGN WITH YOUR PREFERENCES AND IDEAS! ! ! GOD FORBID MY_ FANFICTION _DOESN'T PERFECTLY ALIGN WITH A CANNON UNIVERSE THAT, AS I STATED BEFORE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW! ! ! I'VE WATCHED THE UBW, ZERO, AND APOCRYPHA ANIMES! ! ! AND_ GOD FUCKING FORBID _I_ EVER _USE A FUCKING OC! ! ! I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE HIM OP! ! ! I GAVE HIM SKILL WITH A SWORD, A SPELL TO MAKE A SWORD FROM WIND MAGIC, AND THE ABILITY TO CONTROL BARRIERS, WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE TIRING! ! ! AND DON'T EVEN START WITH THE WHOLE "MY POINTS ARE VALID" BULLSHIT! ! ! IF YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE OF ONE COMPLAINT THAT YOU WERE OFF BASE WITH, THE TAILOR DIDN'T MAKE ARTURIA'S ARMOR! ! ! IF YOU HAD READ THAT PART AT ALL, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT HE WAS_ ALSO A MASTER _WHO HAD SUMMONED_ MERLIN HIMSELF _! ! ! I'M SORRY THAT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT MERLIN LOOKED LIKE AT THE TIME THAT I WROTE THAT, BUT GO FIGURE, ONCE AGAIN,_ IT'S NOT FUCKING CANNON _! ! ! SO I'LL SAY IT AGAIN! ! ! IF YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING POSITIVE OR EVEN REMOTELY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM RELATED TO SAY ABOUT THE FUCKING STORY, THEN_ STOP FUCKING REVIEWING _! ! ! I DON'T NEED OR WANT YOUR INPUT! ! !_**

 ** _To the reviewers that have supported the story or supplied constructive criticism, I thank you deeply, and would appreciate further support._**

* * *

Berserk

Daniel yawned, stretching his legs in front of himself, tilting his head to rest it on top of Arturia's, Arturia currently being asleep on his shoulder. Across from him sat Caules, with Berserker somewhere nearby in spirit form, and with Sakura and Lancer in the next car up. Daniel's group currently occupied the rearmost car. Daniel looked down at his and Arturia's hands, their fingers intertwined. He smiled, gently stroking his thumb over hers. Caules smiled, watching him.

"You really do love her, don't you?" Caules asked.

"With all my heart," Daniel replied. "She's everything to me. What about you? I saw your face when you talked about destroying the Holy Grail."

Caules's face fell and he sighed quietly.

"I...I don't want Berserker to go," Caules said. "She's the only one that wants to do this. But I know it's the right thing to do. So...I will help to destroy the Holy Grail. Even though it means I'll lose Berserker."

Daniel stared at him in silence for a bit. "I don't want Arturia to go. I can't bear to lose her, even though I know I will, if we succeed. Hell, with who we'll be up against, I might lose her before that. Honestly...I don't know if I'd actually be able to do it, given the chance. I don't know if I _could_ destroy the Holy Grail, and kill Arturia. She's all I have in this life. I may not be out of school yet, but if I lose her...I'll have nothing. I won't even have the will to live. If she dies...I'm not going to survive this war. Because of that, there's a very real chance that...if I have the chance...I can't promise I won't use the Holy Grail to wish Arturia back to life."

"I...I can understand that feeling," Caules said, looking out the window and absentmindedly reporting what he saw. "Tunnel."

A moment later, the train was plunged into darkness, a light flashing overhead every couple of seconds. Finally, they exited the tunnel, a steep cliff on the train's left side, and an equally steep one rising above the train on the other. Daniel looked out his window and up the cliff above them, eyes snapping wide open.

"ROCKSLIDE! ! !" he shouted.

The other passengers reacted instantly, all rushing to his side to see the rocks, even as Arturia grabbed Daniel and Berserker appeared, grabbing Caules. Both Servants rushed to the door facing the drop, Berserker bashing the door out with her maul before both leapt out of the train. Daniel shouted in fear as they began to fall, forming a barrier to catch them, all of them groaning just as the falling tsunami of rocks blasted into the train. It hit two cars up from Daniel's, one up from Sakura's car, and the entire train was instantly shoved off the tracks, tumbling down the other embankment, kicking up more and more rocks and boulders behind it. Then, just as it crashed to the ground, it exploded, only for the rockslide to instantly crush and bury it, putting out the flames instantly.

"Shit! The others!" Daniel said.

"Look!" Caules said, pointing at the tracks.

Daniel's head spun around and he stared at Lancer, who was kneeling on the tracks, setting Sakura down and turned to Daniel, nodding. Daniel sighed in relief and moved their barrier to the tracks carefully, all of them stepping off before Daniel let the barrier disintegrate, sighing.

"If you hadn't been looking up..." Caules trailed off, shaking his head as he stared down at what little of the train they could see. "They're all dead. All of them."

"Um, Caules?" Daniel said. "You might want to look up yourself now."

Caules turned, looking up and staring at the two obvious Servants at the top of the cliff. One was hunched forward, ready to dodge or charge. He had light grey skin, a sadistic, psychotic grin plastered permanently across his face, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail with his bangs hanging messily on either side of his face, an iron harness on his face and torso, black gloves, a armor-plated underwear-like piece with armor plates to protect his hips, a gauntlet on his left arm and what looked like a shackle on his right, shin protectors, and a double-edged sword that was almost as long as Daniel was tall but that seemed short in comparison to the behemoth of a man. The other Servant was even larger than the first, and stood tall and proud. As with the first, he was ridiculously heavily muscled, but his body was a dark brown with long darker brown hair that blue in the wind, glowing red eyes, armor bracers on his wrists and ankles, an armored belt and splintmail skirt over a dark blue skirt, and a massive stone cleaver that looked big even for him.

"The bigger one is Heracles," Arturia said. "He's dangerous. He has to be killed twelve times in a single fight to be defeated. If not, whatever lives he lost will be regenerated. And with each one lost he gets stronger."

"Sounds a little like the other guy," Caules said. "That's Spartacus. He was a gladiator in life. His Noble Phantasm is his regeneration. Any wounds or pain he feels only makes him stronger, gives him more mana and mutates him into a gigantic monster. However, there's a limit. And once he reaches it, he explodes. Well, the explosion's a little more like a laser, but still."

"Right," Daniel said. "Sakura, Lancer, try and find their Masters. Hopefully they're nearby. Caules, you and Berserker try to handle Spartacus. Leave Heracles to us. Lancer, if you can't find their Masters, come back and help whoever needs it more."

Lancer nodded and picked up Sakura, turning and sprinting away into the tunnel. Arturia turned to Daniel instantly.

"Please be careful," Daniel said. "I don't want to lose you."

Arturia smiled and nodded, then turned back to Heracles, sprinting up the cliff and leaping over him as Spartacus charged at Berserker. Daniel formed a barrier, riding it up to the top of the cliff as Heracles turned, chasing after Arturia on the small rounded, mostly flat top of the mountain. Arturia spun, rolling out of the way of his cleaver then stood, blocking a slash and skidding backward. She darted forward, slashing at him from the left and he deflected it, swinging a punch at her, only for her to roll aside from it. As she stood, she slashed at his side, managing to make a scratch only for it to seal almost instantly, Heracles turning and slamming a backhand into her side, launching her away off the mountain. Daniel flew after her on his barrier. He landed beside her, releasing the barrier and she shoved him away then leapt backward, Heracles crashing down where they had been. Daniel stood, backing away as Saber charged, beginning to slash at him rapidly, darting around him nonstop to try to keep him from targeting her. He blocked everything she threw at him, slashing at her and only barely missing each time. Fear began to grip Daniel. No matter what attacks Arturia through, Heracles blocked it, and he seemed to be speeding up. Finally, Arturia stopped in front of him, ducking under a diagonal slash then leaping into the air, slashing him across the face as she did. Even as she fell, the damage healed, but as soon as she landed, she drove her sword through the back of his head. Then, she leapt backward as that, too, healed, though slower and glowing red this time in stead of simply sealing. Heracles turned toward her and she sprinted forward, droving into a slide as he slashed at her. She rolled over as she passed under him, slashing the backs of his knees before standing, slashing him across the back, severing his spinal cord. Again the wounds glowed red, healing slowly.

Then, Heracles spun, hand crashing into Arturia and blasting her through a tree, his skin beginning to steam and glow a dull red as his eyes practically shone. He roared in anger, charging and Arturia grabbed her sword, sprinting to the side, beginning to dart around him again, but this time, he slammed his sword down in her path and slapped her again, blasting her into a tree. Arturia coughed up blood as she hit then dropped, pushing herself up with the sword as Heracles charged, slashing at her rapidly. She began to backpedal rapidly, barely managing to deflect each blow as she did. Finally, she spun, Heracles stepping past her, only to mule kick her and launch her backward again. He turned, roaring as he charged. Arturia picked up her sword, preparing herself then dodging to the side of his vertical slash, splitting his torso wide open across the right lung and the heart. She staggered forward, putting some distance between them just as he roared angrily, already on his feet and glowing almost cherry red. She turned, blocking a slash only for the force to send her crashing through the trees, landing on the ground beside Daniel, Excalibur stabbing into the ground somewhere behind her. Heracles roared, streaking toward her again as she was picking herself up, his sword rising.

Daniel's body reacted almost without command. His mind found hers, merging with it instantly and allowing a sense of peace to fill them both. Then, he stepped in front of her, arm swinging up and forming a barrier in front of himself, all the magic he could gather forced into the barrier. Then, he launched himself backward into Saber. Heracles's sword hesitated for half a second when it hit the barrier before splitting it. Arturia and Daniel bounced off the ground from the force of his jump, both flipping before crashing down and rolling to a stop beside Arturia's sword. She stood, grabbing the sword and stepping forward raising it. Then, she froze, staring at the blood coating her hands. Her sword crashed to the ground. She stared down at her front and the blood coating it. But her suit wasn't damaged. She dropped to her knees, rolling Daniel and choked out a sob, pressing her hands to the gash across his torso.

"Daniel!" Arturia screamed before breaking down into sobs. "No! Daniel! You can't die! You can't! I need you!" She pressed harder on the wound, trying uselessly to slow the bleeding of a wound reaching from his right hip to his left shoulder blade, his shoulder having been entirely split. "Daniel please! Please stay with me! I can't lose you! Please! Open your eyes!"

Behind her, Heracles roared, but she ignored it. She pressed harder still into the wound. Daniel didn't flinch. Then, three people stepped out of the trees, two of them firing arrows at Heracles. One was the new archer, a girl with cat ears, blonde hair reaching her waist with the last fifth fading to white and the bangs green, a black dress with green on the shoulders and sides, black thigh-high boots, and black gloves, the right of which reached her elbow. The second person was Rin's Archer Emiya. And the last was a woman with straight dark purple hair reaching past her waist, a matching skin-tight dark purple body suit, lighter purple pauldrons, darker purple armored high-heeled shoes, a black shirt over the body suit and open except at the top, a black piece of cloth on the outside of each thigh, a black piece of cloth that was essentially panties outside of her bodysuit, and a long red lance. The new archer took to the trees instantly, drawing Heracles away while Archer and the newest woman dropped to their knees beside Daniel immediately.

"What happened?" the woman asked.

"He shielded me!" Arturia sobbed. "Please! You have to save him!"

"Save him...but...Saber...the blade nicked his heart," the woman said.

"Please!" Arturia sobbed. "Archer! Please! You have Avalon right?"

"It disappeared after the last Holy Grail War," Archer said, placing a hand over Arturia's. "Arturia..."

Just then, a portal opened and Merlin stepped through with his Master, Avalon held in his hands.

"I have Ava..." he trailed off, staring at Daniel only for Arturia to snatch the sheath from him, placing it in Daniel's hands, staring at it as it did nothing.

"Work!" Arturia shrieked. "Work! Heal him! Please!"

"Arturia..." Archer said. "He's...he's dead."

"No!" Arturia sobbed. "I can still save him! Maybe if I give it more mana..."

"Arturia you know that's not how it works," Merlin said. "It can't heal him. There's nothing to heal."

"He's not dead!" Arturia screamed. "I can still feel his mind! He's still alive! I can still save him! I can still...I...I can..." She rested her head on top of Daniel's chest, entire body shaking with sobs. "Daniel! Please! Don't leave me!"

Archer pulled her away from Daniel, holding her against him as she sobbed. As she did, Sakura and Lancer appeared from the trees, walking toward them.

"Hey guys, I don't know what happened but the big guy suddenly...just..." he trailed off. "Oh no."

Caules and Berserker stepped out of the trees, both looking worse for wear but also freezing. "Daniel...How?"

"He shielded Arturia," the woman said.

The new archer landed beside the woman in purple, sighing. "Heracles took off."

"What do...how can we... _can_ we..." Sakura turned to the Servants gathered around them.

"There's no one that can bring life to the dead," the woman in black said.

"Actually, there _is_ one person," Archer said. "One of the heads of the Mage's Association has control of one of the True Magics. He may know a way to bring Daniel back to life."

"What Zelretch?" Sakura asked. "He can only travel between parallel dimensions."

"It's the best chance we have," Archer said. "If he can't do it, he may know someone who can. Or what parallel dimension to find one in."

"Okay, let's get going," the new archer said.

"What, to the Clock Tower?" Archer snorted. "In London?"

"That's where he'll be," the new archer said. "What, Atalanta, so your plan is to walk two days back to the airport, fly to London, hope that Zelretch is in at the moment and pray that Daniel's body isn't too rotted to be saved?"

Arturia began to sob anew, Berserker comforting her this time, glaring at Archer and grunting.

"Sorry," Archer sighed. "The only way we can save him is if we bring Zelretch to us."

"How?" the woman in purple asked.

"We have to expose magic," Archer said. "He'll be forced to come and stop us."

"But didn't the fight against Medea pretty much expose it anyway?" Caules asked.

"It was close, but the Mage's Association blocked all the phone transmissions to stop the recordings then wiped everyone who saw it's memory of the day with an area of effect curse," Archer said. "They've been at this a long time. You can't honestly believe that no mage has ever been exposed in the thousands of years that magic has existed."

"Fair enough," Caules said. "I suppose that makes sense. But, if we try so deliberately, won't he just kill us to stop us?"

"Maybe," Archer said. "But as I said, it's our only chance."

"I agree with you," Merlin said. "We should hurry though."

Archer nodded and they all stood, Berserker pulling Arturia to her feet as Archer slung Daniel's body over his shoulder. Then, they all turned, heading for the nearest town.

* * *

Leave a review. As I said, I don't really remember what happened to Avalon after ubw. Also, I just recently got to the part of apocrypha that explained what effect transforming into Siegfried was having on Sieg. Oops. We're just going to pretend that's not the case here.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters. I have no idea what source material Zelretch is in, or what kinds of magic/abilities he has beyond parallel dimensions so I'm just going with a shit ton since the wiki says he's ridiculously powerful. Also don't know how Kaleidoscope actually works, just saw a picture of a glode-looking thing.

* * *

Zelretch

Arturia sat motionless, staring at Daniel's body in silence. She was in a back alley, out of sight of Zelretch when he arrived, in case it turned into a fight. The idea was good. She wouldn't die right away if Zelretch was angry. Then again, she didn't care. Daniel was dead, so if she _did_ die, she'd be able to see him again. She swallowed hard. Admitting that he was gone hurt almost worse than the fact itself.

Archer, Lancer, and the new lancer, Scathach, were the ones chosen to draw Zelretch out. The others were all spaced around the square they had chosen. All except Merlin, who was seated beside Arturia. He was probably the strongest of them, but he was also not excellent at magecraft. He had taught Arturia to wield a sword, but he had trouble with long incantations.

"Why am I even still here?" Arturia asked. "I should have disappeared by now. I don't have an Archer Class's longevity."

"I suspect it's because he merged his soul with yours," Merlin said. "It's keeping you alive. But you can feel it right?"

"It's fading," Arturia nodded. "Merlin, where did you get Avalon?"

"The same place that you were summoned, I suspect," Merlin said. "It was in a sewer where a mage had been sacrificing children. Morgana was guarding it, but I've always been good at getting inside Morgana's head. I was able to distract her long enough to get Avalon and escape."

"You know that's dangerous," Arturia said. "She'll be after you."

"I'm not afraid," Merlin said. "Besides, I think I'd rather deal with Morgana than Mordred."

"I wouldn't," Arturia said. "Morgana's dangerous. Especially when angry."

Merlin shrugged. "It's almost time. Are you ready?"

"Does it matter?" Arturia asked. "Zelretch can't return life to the dead. Daniel..."

She pulled her knees to her chest, beginning to sob into them, amazed that she still had the ability to make tears at all. She heard several people screaming and lifted her head, wiping her eyes as she watched Scathach and Lancer controlling a gigantic dragon made of fire, making it breathe fire on the ground near the civilians, getting a good show. Someone tried shooting the dragon, not seeming to understand that it was, in fact, only fire.

"I don't understand why people have to be so afraid of magic in bigger cities," Arturia said. "In Daniel's home town it's common."

"While normally I'd agree with you, they _are_ making a dragon pretend to attack everyone," Merlin said.

"Anyone paying attention could see that it's not getting close enough to harm anyone," Arturia said.

Just then, there was a flash of light and a sharp gasp before numerous more flashes of light began to go off. The two Lancers let their construct fade and watched as more and more civilians dropped, leaving a sea of mages in a circle around the three Servants, the civilians being held on the mages shoulders. Then, fog began to rise from the street, the mages turning and walking away, all seeming to disappear into the fog. Arturia looked around as Merlin stood.

"He's here," Merlin said. "They're set up a displacement barrier."

"A what?" Arturia asked, confused.

"Anyone trying to enter the fog will be placed into a trance until the fog is lifted," Merlin said. "No one can get in, and no one can get out, unless they are specifically allowed to by the mage who created the field."

"Zelretch?" Arturia asked.

"That would be my guess, yes," Merlin nodded.

* * *

Archer looked around as the fog thickened. He sighed. A field was definitely a bad sign. It meant it would be a fight after all.

"Be ready."

The lancers nodded as a figure walked toward them out of the fog. He wore a white cloak with a gold clasp over a white robe. He had a bushy grey beard, a gaunt face, and grey hair brushed back. He also did not look happy.

"I figured it would be you all again," Zelretch said. "Ever since this Godforsaken Grail War started breaking its own rules it's just been one incident after another. Moscow, London, that diner. You are by far the worst bunch of Masters there's ever been."

"To be fair, we're actually the Servants," Archer pointed out. "And we don't even know how many Servants have or will be summoned."

"They may be Servants, but you are both Servant and Master in this war, are you not, Shiro Emiya? Besides that, I know about your allies hiding in the alleyways. You might as well come out now."

"I see," Archer said. "Come on out then. There's no getting around it."

Merlin and Arturia remained where they were, tucked away in an alley in the corner, but everyone else who was there, everyone who had been present for the Berserker fight, stepped out. Zelretch looked around, raising an eyebrow.

"You came prepared I see," Zelretch said.

"We don't want to fight," Archer said. "And we didn't want to reveal magic to the world. But we had to get your attention. One of our friends is dead."

"It's a war," Zelretch said. "I don't care. And I'm not letting you all walk away again. You've caused nothing but trouble. Your entire group is trouble. DO you know how hard it was to stop that incident at the diner from making it onto the internet?"

"I'd imagine it was very difficult," Archer said.

"And you'd be right," Zelretch nodded. "Well, shall I start with the Servants or the Masters?"

"Servants," Archer said, a pair of short scimitar-like blades appearing in his hands, Lancer and Scathach both summoning their spears.

Zelretch nodded once before swiping his hand, a blast of blue mana shooting out at Archer, only for Archer to flip to the side. Almost instantly, a bolt of yellow lightning shot toward Zelretch, who raised a hand, the lightning deflecting off of it at Atalanta. She dove out of the way of the lightning bolt, rolling into a kneeling position, firing several arrows at Zelretch, only for him to hold his hand out, a ball of fire appearing and incinerating the arrows. Then, Zelretch swung his hand, the flames becoming a blade that shot outward in an arc, heading for Scathach. She flipped over it, smirking as she and Lancer sprinted at each other together, stabbing and slashing at him rapidly from opposite sides, Zelretch easily evading them both before catching Scathach's spear and redirecting it into Lancer's gut then kicking Scathach away. He turned and kicked Lancer away as well, keeping Scathach's spear and spinning it, turning to Archer as he stopped the spear diagonally behind himself.

"I figured it'd be a tough fight but this..." Archer shook his head, sprinting forward with his blades, slashing a stab aside then ducking under an arrow from Atalanta.

Zelretch spun the staff, smashing the arrow before he and Archer began to move in a blur, their blades sparking against each other rapidly. One of Archer's blades broke and he flipped, forming another one before landing, slashing with both blades, only for Zelretch to block them and kick him backward, windmilling the spear and deflecting the arrows. Then, Zelretch sidestepped them, hurling the spear like a javelin. Atalanta smashed it aside with her bow, sending it toward Scathach as Archer, Lancer, and Berserker all attacked Zelretch together. Zelretch began to spin and duck out of the way of the weapons, which sparked against each other as the three Servants ended up having to block each others' attacks as much as attack. Finally, Zelretch caught Archer's left arm, spinning and smashing him into first Lancer, then Berserker before flinging him into Atalanta, catching Scathach's spear under his arm and slamming his hand into it, flipping it over his shoulder from behind. Scathach came with it and he jumped, slamming a kick into her gut and sending her crashing into Lancer. Then, his upper body jerked backward as Archer fired several arrows at him, one of them shaving a couple of hairs off of his beard.

"So, you've decided to get serious?" Zelretch asked. "Good."

"Gae Bolg!" Lancer shouted.

"Gae Bolg Alternative!" Scathach said, her own spear suddenly splitting in two.

She hurled the first, the spear streaking through the air at Zelretch only for him to catch it and block a pair of arrow volleys from the two archers. Then, both Lancer and Scathach hurled their spears, both shooting through the air in a pair of blurred lines. He spun, smashing the spear he had caught into them and deflected both, hurling his own spear back at Scathach. She dove out of the way, barely escaping it, and the spear shimmered and faded. Then, Zelretch turned, stomping his foot and sending wind exploding upward out of a fissure suddenly in the ground, deflecting a twisted arrow from Archer upward into the air before a massive explosion lit the fog above them.

"Damn," Archer sighed. "I thought I had you with that one."

"I've grown tired of this," Zelretch said.

He held his hand out, chanting under his breath and suddenly, a massive ring of wind energy appeared around him, sweeping all of the Servants and Masters off the ground, spinning them around and around the square before finally slamming them all into the wall directly in front of Zelretch, who raised his hand, spikes of fire forming over him in the air.

"You will now all stop causing trouble for the Mage's Association," Zelretch said.

Just as he began to swing his arm, a cloaked figure appeared beside him, catching his arm. Zelretch stared at him, the flame spikes fading.

"And just what the hell do _you_ want?" Zelretch asked, ripping his hand from the man's grasp.

The man raised a hand, pointing into an alleyway in the corner and Archer's stomach dropped. There's no way they hadn't known. So what was going on? Zelretch turned, staring into the alleyway, raising an eyebrow.

"So that's him huh?" Zelretch asked. "Doesn't look so great. And what happens if I don't?"

The cloaked figure leaned closer, whispering something, and Zelretch's eyes widened slightly.

"Ninety three?" Zelretch mused. "I see. I suppose there's no other choice then. I'll take care of it."

He turned as the cloaked figure seemed to fade into the fog without moving once. Zelretch began toward the corner.

* * *

Arturia watched, open-mouthed, as the others tried and failed to land a scratch on Zelretch. She wanted to help, really she did, but when she had stood, she had felt the parts of her mind that felt like Daniel start to weaken faster than they already were, so she remained. She watched as the others tried their Noble Phantasms and failed. Then as they were gathered together to be slaughtered. It was no use. Zelretch was simply too powerful. It occurred to her to wonder exactly how Zelretch could be so strong, but then a cloaked figure appeared and al thought stopped. The figure pointed to her and Merlin and she stopped breathing as Zelretch began to walk toward them. As he reached the mouth of the alleyway, she reached for her sword only for Zelretch to appear in front of her, stepping on the sword's blade.

"Relax," Zelretch said. "The person you saw convinced me to help you."

"How?" Arturia asked.

"If he doesn't live, the Holy Grail Wars won't end," Zelretch said. "Your boyfriend is rather unique."

He held his hand over Daniel's face for a moment before his eyes widened and he turned to her. He reached out, placing his hands on either side of her head and she felt his consciousness brush hers for the briefest of moments before he released a bark of laughter, opening his eyes and releasing her head.

"He's either the luckiest fool I've ever met, or the most ingenious telepathy user in history," Zelretch laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Arturia asked.

"He merged, not only, his mind with yours, but his soul as well," Zelretch said. "Enough to keep his soul here, alive, even though his body is quite decidedly not. If that's the case, this will be even easier than I thought."

"You can save him?" Arturia asked, hope flaring in her chest.

"I can," Zelretch said. "I was worried I'd have to find a wizard with the power to restore the dead, but instead, all I need to do is get your boyfriend a functional body. And I know exactly the one."

"What do you mean?" Arturia asked.

"Give me a moment to save him and I'll explain," Zelretch said.

"No!" Arturia said. "What the hell are you trying to do to Daniel!"

Zelretch sighed. "In simple terms, I'm swapping out his ruined body for an identical, yet undamaged one."

"How?" Arturia asked.

"I know of one parallel dimension in which the events up until your fight with the Berserkers happened exactly the same all the way through," Zelretch said. "However, in that one, it wasn't Spartacus and Heracles that ambushed you, it was Morgana and Medea. You and Daniel ended up fighting against Morgana, but Morgana decided that she wanted to hurt you. So she restrained you and made you watch as she ripped his soul from his body. She used magic to leave his body alive as an empty husk, but he was essentially dead otherwise. If I switch this ruined body with that otherwise identical one, I'll be able to put his soul back into it, essentially making it so that he was never killed."

Arturia nodded slowly. "Okay. Do it."

Zelretch nodded, holding out his hand, a glowing globe-like construct with a sphere floating in the center appeared over it and he began to move his hand over the outside of it, a rapid series of flashes shooting off of Daniel each time, revealing a different scene each time. One was a perfectly healthy Daniel but with different hair and an underbite, one was one with a hawk nose and his lower jaw missing, one had scars across his face, another had no head. One was flat, one was a puddle of blood, one was a glowing silhouette of mana, one was a girl. Finally, Zelretch's hand stopped, leaving Daniel exactly how he should be, complete with an intact torso. The only thing wrong was the lifeless look in his eyes. Zelretch let the globe fade and placed a hand on Daniel's forehead, then another on Arturia's. He closed his eyes and Arturia felt Daniel's warmth trickling out of her mind, along the pathway Zelretch had formed for it and into his new body. After a moment, Daniel's eyes slid closed and Zelretch retreated from Arturia's mind, lowering his hands.

"Now, before he wakes up there are a few things you should know," Zelretch said. "As I know he's told you, linking with someone like that is dangerous. Things tend to get a bit mixed up. One problem is what you were able to feel while merged with him. He was fading. It wasn't just his ability to stay linked with you, it was parts of his soul fading away. We don't know how much of his soul, or what parts were taken. As such, we don't know if he can fully recover at all, let along how soon. He will undoubtedly need to sleep for at least a day before he can function properly."

"Can he recover those parts of his soul?" Arturia asked.

"If the damage isn't severe enough, yes," Zelretch said. "His soul should heal, though it may scar. It should manifest in a fear, or in minor hallucinations, like seeing an animal that's not there. Or maybe he'll remember something that never happened. It's tough to say. But there are other possible problems."

"From the link itself?" Arturia guessed, receiving a nod.

"That kind of link isn't just connecting minds," Zelretch said. "It's different than just communicating with your thoughts. I know you understand. When you link like that, you become one being. When that kind of link is held, it becomes harder to tell what parts belong to who. Trying to see the difference can become like trying to tell the individual droplet from the ocean. Basically, there's no way to tell what parts of him were left behind or what parts of you he may have taken."

"I feel fine," Arturia said.

"You would never notice," Zelretch said. "Anyway, he's alive now, so the rest is up to you."

"Thank you," Arturia said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as it set in that he had been saved. "Thank you."

"It's not without a price," Zelretch said. "If there's another incident of public magic, I'm going to kill him myself. And I will not be bringing him back again. Do _not_ let him die again."

"I won't," Arturia said, gently stroking Daniel's forehead with her thumb, a tear dropping onto his cheek. "Never again."

Zelretch nodded and stood, his clothes turning black as he turned, walking away into the fog, which began to clear. The others all walked over, Archer lifting Daniel, then looked around at the people standing around in a trance, slowly beginning to become aware of their surroundings.

"Let's go," Archer said, leading them down a back alley and away from the crowd. "I asked Rin to send our Riders to pick us up. They'll be here shortly."

Arturia nodded, staring at Daniel as they walked. Finally, his eyes creaked open and he smiled at her.

"I guess I...broke my promise...huh?" he asked weakly.

She smiled, shaking her head before his eyes slid shut again.

* * *

Leave a review.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own any of the original Fate Series characters. **Alright, so just to clear things up to anyone reading this, this story is more or less along with Unlimited Blade Works storyline but with some Apocrypha characters in it. However, it didn't follow UBW all the way to the end, only until just after Illyasviel's death.**

* * *

Planning

Daniel groaned quietly, eyes creaking open and staring at the ceiling. His entire body burned and ached, and a line down his torso was screaming in agony, yet the wounds his body was claiming weren't there. He slowly pushed himself up, body trembling in an effort to not respond. He reached a sitting position, noticing that he wasn't wearing a shirt, and looked around, finding Arturia asleep beside him. He sighed, turning and setting his feet on the floor, then leaning forward and trying to push himself up. His legs gave out and he dropped to his hands and knees, sighing. He glanced at Arturia but she was still asleep. He slowly began to push himself up again, managing to get upright and slowly staggering to the desk where his shirt was neatly folded. He pulled it on and left the room, stumbling down the hall to the kitchen. He pulled the freezer open, grabbing a bag of frozen vegetables and pressed it to his chest, sighing as the pain of the wound he was supposed to have began to fade.

He turned, stumbling back down the hallway to his and Arturia's room, then to the door to the bathroom. He knocked weakly, and after a moment he knocked again, a little more forcefully. When there was no answer, he slid the door open a little, carefully peeking in, thankful that it was empty. He stepped inside, closing the door only for his legs to give out and for him to crumple unceremoniously to the floor, groaning quietly as he pulled a muscle in his right leg. He rolled, getting his leg out straight again and lay there, waiting for the room to stop spinning. Finally, it did and Daniel rolled onto his side, slowly pushing himself up and stumbling over to the toilet, dropping onto his knees and bending forward, vomiting into it. Once the flood had ended and he could breathe again, he coughed, inhaled, and began again. After several more repetitions, he sighed, flushing and stumbled to the sink, washing the vomit out of his mouth and brushing his teeth. Then, he turned and one foot caught the other, dropping him to the floor a second time. This time, the door slid open after a moment.

"Daniel!" Arturia gasped, dropping to her knees beside him worriedly.

Daniel smiled, his mouth moving but remaining silent. His eyes widened and he tried again, face contorting in effort and concentration. Arturia's eyes widened and began to water.

 _"Um...I can't talk,"_ Daniel said telepathically. _"At least this still works."_

Arturia nodded, helping him up and back to the bedroom, setting him on the bed and sitting beside him. "What happened? You spoke before."

 _"I'm not really sure,"_ Daniel said. _"But, I threw up a minute ago so, maybe it's just a side effect?"_

Arturia looked unsure but lay down beside him, pulling him against her, trembling. He wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her back as she curled into him. He lay awake after that, even as Arturia drifted back to sleep. By morning, he still couldn't speak, and his missing wound still hurt. But he remained silent about it. Finally, as the sun was rising, Arturia stirred and smiled up at him. He smiled back, kissing her lightly before slipping out from under her and standing, pulling a shirt on. She got up as well, noticing he was moving only slightly better than the night before. She helped him out to the living room where the others were all awake and chatting. Everyone smiled and greeted Daniel as he stepped into the room.

"You're finally awake," Rin smiled. "Good. How do you feel?"

Daniel shrugged.

"You have to be honest with us Daniel," Rin said. "Parts of your soul were lost before we could save you. We need to determine which, and then we need to monitor them to see if they return."

 _"I can't speak,"_ Daniel said. _"And my entire body is weak and hurts. Also, I threw up last night."_

"I see," Rin nodded. "The vomiting and weakness are both from your soul trying to adjust to the body. It should pass in a day or two. The speaking is probably the same thing, since Archer said you were able to speak immediately after getting your body. I'm not sure how long until you get that back."

Daniel nodded and sat down on the floor, Arturia sitting beside him. The others were all seated in their usual arrangement, along with the extras who had taken up positions around the room on the floor. Scathach was leaning against the wall beside Lancer and talking to him quietly, Caules was sitting on the floor in the corner with Berserker sitting in his lap making a wreath of flowers, the newest archer was sitting on the floor off to the side, using a rubber band to shoot folded pieces of paper at Achilles, who was deflecting them with a toothpick.

"What do we do now?" Archer asked. "It's pretty clear that our plans have gone to shit."

"We need to find a way to destroy the grail," Rin said. "And we need to do it as soon as we can."

"We should start taking out the more troublesome Servants, too," Lancer said. "Like those two Berserkers that nearly killed Daniel."

"I've got a question about that," the newest archer said. "How'd Saber survive so long after that? I thought only archers possess that kind of longevity outside of a contract."

"It's because Daniel fused his soul with hers," Archer said. "Mana comes from the soul originally. So when Daniel's soul was joined with Saber, it allowed her to remain by feeding off of it, like a battery. It's part of the reason that parts of his soul are currently missing."

"I thought that was because he was dying," Shiro said.

"Most of it was," Archer said. "And Saber did an amazing job holding him back from that fate. But even while she was holding him back, a part of his soul was consumed by her, unknowingly, as a mana battery."

"Could we please focus on ending the war?" Arturia spoke up.

Daniel wrapped his arms a bit more securely around her, resting his head on top of hers. Rin sighed, nodding.

"She's right," Rin said. "We have more important things to deal with. We need to figure out who's been summoned. And we need to establish an order in which we eliminate them."

"And how do we judge that order?" Achilles asked.

"Threat," Caules said. "Those that we think are most dangerous should be eliminated first."

"The Berserkers," Lancer said.

"Morgana and Mordred," Arturia said.

"Gilgamesh," Archer said.

"That's just to start with," Rin said. "We have to assume we'll meet an army's worth."

 _"Can we skip to addressing the biggest issue?"_ Daniel asked the room telepathically. _"How exactly do we destroy the Grail?"_

Everyone looked around silently for several moments before Archer spoke up.

"In my time, there was a theory," Archer said. "A sufficiently powerful strike from both Servant and Master, at the same time, could, in theory, destroy the Grail. However, due to the nature of the Holy Grail Wars, that has never been possible. But I was never a part of a war like this. Whatever's happening here, it's not normal. It shouldn't _be_ happening. Someone's...changing things."

"Well, this time around, we _can_ hit the Holy Grail with everything we've got," Achilles said. "So we just need to make sure that we all get to the Grail and blast the hell out of it."

"Easier said than done," Arturia said. "The Grail won't form until at least six Servants have died, and the seventh is weakened. It will be a long while before that happens. And even when that _does_ happen, we'll be hard-pressed to find it before someone else. This war doesn't have to end for a wish to be made."

 _"On that note, we have to assume that whoever is controlling this war will be waiting to claim the grail the moment it appears,"_ Daniel said. _"We cannot allow them to make a wish. Otherwise, everything we do will have been wasted."_

"He's right," Rin said. "We need to make sure that the Grail appears where we choose."

"We can't," Waver said. "Now that Servants are appearing globally, we have to assume the same can be said for the Grail."

"There have been ways to control it before, right?" Sakura asked.

"There are ways to increase the likelihood," Archer said. "But if the Grail can appear globally, they would all become essentially pointless. The likelihood, increased or not, would be too low to rely on it or to waste time and energy trying. On the other hand, for the person controlling the war to be waiting for the grail, they'd need to be able to predict its location. They may have a way to control it. If we could figure out who they are, we could use that to reach the grail first."

"That presents its own problems," Waver said.

 _"Everything does,"_ Daniel said. _"Everything we do is going to have problems, risks, and essentially be nothing but guesswork and assumptions. We assume we'll be able to reach the grail at all, we assume we'll survive long enough for the Grail to form, we assume it will form before everyone's dead, and we assume that someone actually_ is _controlling this."_

"Well what do _you_ suggest we do then, gimpy?" Achilles asked, Arturia glaring at him.

 _"Instead of focussing on the grail, we should start with the Servants we listed off,"_ Daniel said. _"That's a list of, what, five? So long as we're careful, we should still have time to worry about locating the grail before it forms. However, once we_ do _defeat the Servants we listed, we have to start assuming that the person who may or may not be controlling this war is going to be powerful, and also have a Servant of their own."_

"If it comes to that, we'll deal with them," Shiro said.

"Yeah, sure," Achilles said. "Just like we all dealt with Zelretch. Has anyone considered the possibility that it's _him_? Maybe he wants to wish that all non-magic -users will be dead so he doesn't have to do his job anymore and he can retire."

"Enough," Lancer finally groaned. "We're getting nowhere. He have a general plan, so let's just get started. Everyone capable of moving fast and stealthily, while also defending yourself if it comes to a fight, mostly meaning myself, Scathach, and the archers, should go out and find our targets, then report back. If anyone other than Future Emiya finds Gilgamesh, they need to hightail it away, and prepare to be killed anyway."

"He's right," Archer sighed. "We'll head out and start searching. The rest of you stay here and defend this place. We're bound to draw attention. Even with Rin's wards."

The others all nodded in agreement and those who were able to do reconnaissance well left, the rest staying at the house. Daniel and Arturia returned to their room, Arturia helping Daniel through rehab so that he could adjust to his body faster.

* * *

Leave a review. Sorry this took so long. I forgot what I wanted to do for a while and lost motivation.


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